The World God Only Knows: Ascension
by Xth Form Keyblader
Summary: A parallel story to main story in TWGOK. Naoto Fujimoto is a first-year high school student who went unnoticed through middle school. Although he has resigned having an ordinary life, it seems as if Hell has other plans... **On Hiatus**
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Pre-Chapter Notes:** Hello! If you need to know anything about this story to start off with, it is that this story is a completely original story with made-up characters. This is kind of meant to be a oneshot, I do have plans beyond this, which is why it may end a little unfulfilling, but I wanted to get people's opinion about it. Usually these notes are concerning more or less about my responding to your reviews, usually saying thank you, and maybe even putting forth a little bit about the chapter itself. What I have to say about this chapter? Well, it's the first chapter. There are no reviews, obviously, because of it. This chapter was made with the first episode/manga chapter in mind so if it feels a little generic, I'm sorry. Anyways, instead of typing up excuses for myself, I should let you read the story.

Oh, and of course, the **disclaimer:** I do not own TWGOK. That's maybe a good thing for the series… :-) And please read and review! Phew! Almost forgot about that.

**Flag 1.0:** _The Arrival of the Demon_

* * *

><p><em>Tap, tap, tap<br>_

The coming of spring also signaled the coming of school. Even though it was still chilly for some, the classes began, notebooks were opened, and the bombardment of knowledge began its annual course. At this time, school has been transpiring for about a month. Clubs were up and running and school was starting to become routine once again.

_Tap, tap, tap  
><em>

But, at this time, the students of Amekura Private High School were given a brief respite: lunch time. With that, the noise level rose and as desks and chairs moved and people began their walk out of the class labeled as Class 1-B, people huddled into their own little groups. Most of the students remaining in the class all had their own food, packed tightly into their bento boxes. But, the ones in their groups tended to have their own interests. Some turned their eyes to their magazines and manga as they ate. Others gossiped over their food, even about those in the room at that moment. And one-

_Tap, tap, tap_

-focused the gaze of his golden irises to the window outside. His bento already unwrapped on his desk; the young male was seemingly unfazed by the noise level and even of those around him. No one came to sit with him, nor did any of them call out any offers either. One could notice just by looking into the class that between every group huddled off in the classroom, there was also a small, invisible wall. Sure, the wall was permeable. To the male, his space was literally his own personal space. But, he did not flinch, nor did he hold a bated breath when lunch came around. He expected this; even better, he invited it.

_Tap, tap, tap_

The plastic chopsticks held between his long and lanky middle and index fingers methodically rapped against the desk as his eyes drifted back to his desk and his bento. Even though his stomach was not making noises underneath his red jacket and white dress shirt, he could feel how empty it was. _'If I eat this fast enough, maybe I could go to the computer lab,'_ he reasoned before he picked up a gob of rice and placed it into his mouth.

* * *

><p>Some time passed and the male was now walking out down the hallway. He ran his right hand through his messy, jet black hair before he put it into his pocket. His name was Naoto Fujimoto. As he strolled down the corridor, he could hear the people talking to each other. Unlike some, Naoto was not the kind of person who would draw attention for any reason. He was not the most athletic, nor the most intelligent. He was not even the most eccentric or the least cooperative. Really, he had no real outstanding quality about himself. But, that was fine. He would go to college, become a standard company worker, and have a relatively normal family life. He could settle for a life track similar to that.<p>

The computer lab was a relatively quiet place during lunch. Not many people came there and many of the ones who did mostly kept to themselves. As Naoto entered the room, he took a look around to see black screens and a person sitting a desk near the furthest wall. He was a stern –looking male. His face was beginning to wrinkle and his hair, beginning to gray with small strokes of gray lying amongst his mat of black hair. Said person looked up to Naoto, a quick acknowledgement with a pair of fierce eyes that almost gives Naoto cause for alarm, before directing his attention back to what he was doing, whatever that was.

What Naoto did in the computer lab depended on the day. Some days, he would just simply look at his email, which usually included some online sales and some junk mail. Other days, he would let his hair down, to say, and play some online video games. It started out as the same old day… So, when he saw that there was a new email in his inbox, he decided to humor it and clicked on it.

* * *

><p><strong>Naoto's POV<strong>

_Dear AkanoExorcist666,_

_You look like the kind of person who would want some kind of excitement in your life. Don't mind me if you don't… But, on the off chance that you do, I have some excitement for you._

Below lie a red button that has the word 'reply' in large, white letters on it. I cannot help but wonder what kind of person would send such a strange mail message. On the other hand, though, I cannot help but also feel a little bit insulted and provoked. After all, the second sentence makes it sound like even this person thinks full well that my life is boring. _'It's just a junk email…'_ I tried to comfort myself. But, I beg the question: how did this person find my email in the first place? I don't distribute my email all over the place, so how did this private person find my email?

'_What's the harm?'_

Of course, there is always the nagging feeling to just click on the red button.

'_The worst that happens is that maybe I click on it and it goes to an 18+ dating site. And… whatever was seen between the two of us-'_

I cast a glance over to the person at the desk who still seems to be preoccupied with something on his computer screen.

'_-stays between the two of us. I would just need to explain myself is all.'_

At this moment, the teacher gets up from his seat and my mouse drifts to the red button. _'Even better, if I do it now, then I'll have enough time to gauge it before deciding if I should close it or not,'_ I reason. My right index finger quickly pressed down on the mouse button. Quickly, a new window pops up, obstructing the screen that my email was on.

And what would appear?

A white screen.

"Really?" I ask rhetorically. I close the window and promptly click the 'delete' button at the top of the email. "That email was just a-" All of a sudden, I forgot what I was even aiming to do with that email. I had already listed it as junk mail, too…

Regardless, though, lunch is about to end. So, I should get going.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the sky, the clouds began to blacken. It was definitely something that did not go unnoticed to the students throughout the whole school. However, what happened next was even more startling. A streak of purple shot through the sky and hit the roof of the school. To those who were on the roof- which, was no one- they would see that out of the weird streak of light, emerged a female with short, strawberry blonde hair. The clouds were starting to dissipate and as the light shone down on her, the scene almost looked as if an angel had descended.<p>

How ironic.

She scanned the rooftop, looking for traces of anyone, before she looked to a purple cloth-like object that was resting on her shoulders. She removes if from her shoulders, takes a hold of it with both of her hands before she pulls on both sides. Soon, letters began to appear on the cloth itself and the cloth itself began to harden to the point where it looked like a screen. The female tilted the object so it was vertical to her person and held it out in front of herself, like she was reading a piece of literature.

"Naoto Fujimoto, Age Fifteen. Amekura High School, Class 1-B," she rambled as she took one of her fingers off of the back of the screen and slid her finger across it. As soon as she did this, new information appeared on the screen. "Of course I landed in the wrong place," she chastised herself before she sighed. _'It's pretty quiet here… But, it seems as if it is only noonish. School must still be going on, so I should wait until they let out.'_ With that, she plopped her butt on the tiles and looked up to the sky. "My previous experience probably won't apply here, huh?" She put on a small smile. _'At least I'm finally out of there…'_

* * *

><p><em>Riiiiiiiinngg!<em>

The school day had been brought to a close and after saying goodbye to the last teacher of the day, the students began packing up in a fuss. Naoto, on the other hand, reached into his pocket and took out a red cell phone. He flipped it open and a picture of a skyscraper from the ground could be seen. But, more importantly, a new notification was nowhere to be found. _'Looks like Mom has Taiki under control,'_ he assured himself before he picked up his schoolbag and began his stroll towards the stairs. _'Maybe I should head to soccer practice today-'_

However, before he had a chance for him to finish his thought, he saw a door swing open wildly to his left behind him and a pair of arms wrapped around his left arm. Before he could even say anything in protest, he was tugged into the door and the door slammed shut. Now, all of a sudden, he was crammed into a small dark place that emanated the smell of cleaning supplies. _'I was just dragged into the janitor's closet, wasn't I?'_ He would try to open the door, but he could see through the small light that permeated from underneath the door that the hand of whoever was in there with him was still there. Naoto did notice, though, that the hand's fingernails were short, but also painted purple. _'Did I just get dragged in here by a girl?'_ Regardless how advantageous this kind of development was- and Naoto knew that this was at least an interesting development; he was still crammed in a small space with someone that he did not know. He began to rummage around the area with his hands, looking for some kind of light switch.

"So, just to check, your name is Naoto Fujimoto. Nao for honesty and To for ascend, right? I've been waiting for you." asked the other person. The voice was definitely a female; Naoto could tell that. Apparently, she did not notice his searching for a light, however, as she did not even make a move to stop him. He soon felt a wall switch before he looked back at the shrouded female.

"Yes, and who are you to ask?" Naoto asks before he abruptly switches the light on to see his captor, of sorts. It was a female with stunning purple eyes and short, messy strawberry blonde hair. She was dressed in a red dress that stretched down to her lower thighs that stuck loosely to her slim and athletic figure. One thing that drew his attention, though, was the skull accessory in her hair. _'That kind of reminds me of an anime that Taiki wanted to watch… Tengu- Wait, that's not right. Tengen? Tengen Toppa? I think that was part of the title… Although it is kind of different…'_ The next thing that he noticed was the weird scarf-like object draped over her shoulders. _'Is it transparent or something like that?'_

"My name is Charmaine. I'm here about the contract you signed earlier," the female explained.

"Contract?" Naoto immediately responded before he began to think about it. His eyes widened as he reached an epiphany. _'That troll of an email?'_

"Yes, so you will be my spirit hunting buddy," Charmaine continued. Now, Naoto is particularly confused. Charmaine soon turned the knob and opened the door. "Follow me. I've already sensed one, so we'll need to be a little quick with the introductions." Naoto was so confused that he was now dumbstruck. But, he decided to follow if not for any other reason; he was interested about the contract itself.

* * *

><p>"Anyways, now that I've found you, Naoto, we can get to the specifics of the contract," Charmaine explained as she sat down at one of the desks. She used her hand to beckon Naoto to come over, which he did with much reluctance. Once he pulled the chair over to the desk, he sat down opposite of Charmaine and looked directly into her eyes, observing her amethyst-colored irises to let her know that he had her full attention for the time being. "So, let me start… My name is Charmaine de Luce Sonorum. Some people call me 'Char.'" Naoto chuckled a little to himself as he heard the nickname and Charmaine soon realized that even he understood the joke. However, he did wonder where exactly this female must have come from in order for her to have such a foreign name. "I am a demon from Hell."<p>

The laughter promptly stopped. Well, that sure explained quite a bit.

'_This must be some kind of hidden camera joke,'_ Naoto assumed as he laughed nervously. _'Either that or this woman is nuts!'_ Naoto quickly got up from his seat and began to move towards the sliding doors to the classroom. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you, Ms. Demon. I need to head out and do… stuff." He nodded a couple of times in agreement with himself as he spun on his heel to take his gaze away from her. Once he has turned away from the girl, he presses both palms of his hands together. _'May our paths never cross again,'_ he hoped.

"Of course, I sound crazy saying this. But, it might be nice to let you know… A broken contract is not an easy matter to resolve," Charmaine warned.

Naoto was now intrigued. Charmaine almost sounded serious about what she was saying. He thought he at least earned her the right to hear her out. "What do you mean by that?" he inquired, his body now turned in her direction with his hand rested on the sliding door.

"What's on your neck is what I mean," Charmaine retorted.

* * *

><p><strong>Naoto's POV<strong>

What does she mean my neck? I don't wear any kind of necklace or anything like that… I reach towards my neck to feel something almost plastic-like wrapped around my neck. Weird… It wasn't there before. I proceed to try to pull off the foreign object, originally thinking that it is just plastic. It should be easy to remove. Or so I thought. Soon, my minute efforts turn into me trying to pull off the plastic ring with all of my strength. But, to no avail. It won't come off and the female I just met, Charmaine, looks at me expectantly. "What's with this?" I complain, "It's like I'm supposed to take out my neck in an attempt to take it off."

"Well, it wouldn't be so intimidating if you could take it off with minimal effort, right?" Charmaine asks rhetorically before she pointed to her neck, revealing that she has the same black ring around her neck. "Think of this as a mini-guillotine. If you break the contract then-"

My eyes widen as I connect the dots in my own head by myself. "You mean that if I break this contract, then I'll lose my head?"

"Bingo. Same to me, too."

"And who decided this?" I yell back, near hysterical.

"My boss," Charmaine nonchalantly replies. "It's more of an assurance than anything else."

"Your boss is crazy!" I exclaim, my hands still on the ring trying to pull it off of my neck.

"Well, I can't confirm nor deny that," she replies bashfully, her gaze diverting away for a moment. I honestly wonder how she could stay so calm during all of this. "Anyways, if you do your job, then your head won't go flying off. You want to know what it is?"

At this point, I have given up. If this method is the only way to ensure my life, then I will do it. I take my hands off of the plastic ring and looks towards Charmaine, waiting for her response. "Well, we are hunting after souls that have escaped from Hell. All you have to do is just hunt them down." Soon, the skull accessory on Charmaine's head begins to sound off. She looks towards the window and beckons me to come over once again. I sulk my way over to the window, still distraught about the situation that I have gotten myself in. "Look over there. To that girl," she instructs, pointing in the direction of a group of males heading towards the gym and out of the group, there is one girl: the one leading the group.

"If I remember correctly, that's Tomomi Hisono… She's the boys' basketball team manager and part of my cl-" I begin to ramble, not sure as to why Charmaine wanted me to pay attention to her. That is, until I see a weird smoke emit from her. No one around seems to notice it, but I can definitely see it. Even worse, it almost seems ghastly in appearance. "What's that?"

"Sign of an escaped spirit wandering into the gap in a girl's heart," Charmaine explains. I, however, am lost and it must have communicated very well on my face because Charmaine lets out a small sigh and begins explaining further. "When something is troubling a girl, a gap appears in her heart. That's what the escaped spirits take advantage of and hide in. Once they go in, there is a way to get them out. You have to fill that gap in their hearts. So, pretty much, the spirit just went into that girl's heart recently so you have to force it out."

"So, why don't you just do that?" I interject.

"If I could, don't you think that would be easier? But, I can't," Charmaine continues explaining. "In order to help the girl, you need to force it out with love!" My eyes widen. Wait, if I just heard properly, the girl just told him that I have to make a girl fall in love with me. Even better, that girl in particular? She has some not-so-secret admirers in our grade! I'll get killed if I even try!

"You're nuts. You're telling me to make her fall in love with me!" I yell. "Listen, okay? I'm kind of not really popular around here and I have no- let me repeat that- NO. ROMANTIC. EXPERIENCES!" I let out a small sigh. "The closest that I have to romantic relationships are playing galge, visual novels, and watching dramas with my mom."

Despite my outburst, however, Charmaine just stands there, blinking at me. Then, the dots begin to connect once again. "And even if that is true, it doesn't make my contract any more invalid, does it?" I ask, already bracing myself for the answer.

"Hit the nail on the head," Charmaine replies.

I sigh, "Kind of thought so." I look down to the ever-retreating basketball team. I should begin working… If anything, I need to make Tomomi notice me. I'll just start with that. As I begin to walk down to the gym with Charmaine not far behind, I begin to wonder: what kind of obstacles could they throw at me now?

After all, I have probably heard the worst of it already.

* * *

><p><strong>Flag 1.5: <strong>_Love and Basketball_

By the time that Naoto and Charmaine arrived at the door to the gym, the sounds of squeaking rubber and the basketball pounding against the ground could be heard from the outside. Charmaine had her attention turned once again to the cloth-like object that was now resting in her hands. Naoto eyed it as well, but could only raise an eyebrow before looking away from it. _'That is definitely a different language, alright.'_

"Tomomi Hisono, age fifteen. Same class as you said," Charmaine recited, her eyes not leaving the screen. "Appearance above average, athletic ability above average, intelligence average…" Charmaine dragged her finger across the screen again. "Works as a boys' basketball manager… Played girls' middle school basketball. I wonder why she stopped…"

"I heard she got injured during last school year," Naoto interjected. "No idea what happened beyond that, though. It was bad, I heard. She couldn't even participate in the any of the tournaments last year."

"Any of them?" Charmaine asked before Naoto absentmindedly nodded. "That would mean that she probably got injured around the summer time… Must have been really bad." She then let go of the cloth-like object before she glanced over to Naoto. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Initiate contact," Naoto replied. "Like I said, I'm not very popular here. But, I'm also not very well-known here either. There is a good chance that she doesn't even know who I am. So what I can do is just find some kind of medium for me to get myself into her life."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to join the basketball club," Naoto declared.

* * *

><p><strong>Day 1<strong>

"So, with that, we have our newest member: Naoto Fujimoto," a middle-aged male explained. He was stout, with a bellowing voice that quickly took the attention of all who were present. His outfit consisted of a gray zip-up jacket and matching sweatpants. He wore a black sweatband on his forehead that rested just below the hairline for his straight, blonde hair. Around his neck was a whistle, as he was the coach of the team. "Introduce yourself, kid." He patted Naoto on the back and either because of Naoto's legs or his own strength, Naoto stumbled forward a step.

"Hello, I'm Naoto Fujimoto," Naoto greeted, his body underneath the white t-shirt and red shorts was twitching ever so slightly out of anxiety. "Please take good care of me." He bowed to the group of eight players.

"Good! Now, let's work on shooting individually!" the coach declared. Soon, the group dispersed to different sides of the gym, each near a basketball hoop.

It was only a half-hour after Naoto's conversation with Charmaine but, the situation called for immediate progression, not only for Naoto, himself, but also for the team. The team, from what Naoto heard, had a practice match soon with one of the better schools in their prefecture. This team, however, only comprised of eight players. Even though they could play with that amount, getting a ninth player was a success for them.

So much so that they never even asked how much he actually knew how to play basketball. All Naoto could do was sigh. He was satisfied with being able to get onto the team, but he would most likely make a fool of himself while trying to get Tomomi to like him. _'Speaking of her,'_ Naoto realized before he looked around the gym to catch any sight of her. _'Nothing, huh? Might as well begin practicing.'_ Naoto propelled the basketball towards the rim, but to no surprise to him, the ball bounced off the front of the rim and bounced back in his direction. Once gathering the ball, he shot it again. This time, it hit off the side and began bouncing away from him. Naoto jogged after it and after gathering it once again, tried once again. The ball then proceeded to bounce off of bottom part of the rim and hit the ground below it. Naoto sighed. _'I probably need to at least something consistent going before Hisono will even appear…'_

"You're not keeping your balance when you shoot the ball," a female voice commented. Naoto blinked before he looked in the direction of the voice. "And your shooting motion isn't constant at all."

'_Hisono,'_ Naoto thought, partially stunned that he had not noticed her beforehand.

Tomomi Hisono was a girl known for her smile and brown eyes. Even while she was criticizing Naoto's playing, she still had a smile on her face that let Naoto see her sparkling white, left canines. She pushed her short auburn hair behind her ear as she approached. "Listen up," Tomomi paused as her mind went deep into thought, "… Fujimoto-kun, right?" Naoto nodded in response. "The thing about a good shooting stroke is not that it looks pretty, or even that it looks correct, but it works." Tomomi's eyes look in the direction of the basketball before she looks to Naoto. "Try shooting it again. This time, just try to feel for the most comfortable motion. Don't care if it goes in or not. Even the best shooters can't get it all of the time."

Naoto took a deep breath before he took the basketball in his hands, jumped up, and pushed the ball towards the rim. The ball bounced off of the back of the rim and Naoto proceeded to jog after the ball. "And remember to always pursue the ball," Tomomi added. "Rebounds are important and if you can get rebounds for our team defensively, we will always be okay with you being on the court, even if you are just a point guard. We don't have many tall people on our team, so everyone has to make an effort on rebounding the ball."

'_She sounds just like a coach!'_ Naoto thought as he caught the ball and proceeded to dribble the ball back to her. _'She must really love this sport…'_

Soon, the whistle sounded. "Okay, we're going to have three-on-three for a little bit. Fujimoto, Tanaka, Sato! You three will be on one team!" the coach yelled.

"You should get going, Fujimoto-kun," Tomomi suggested, taking the basketball out of his hands before she began to walk away. "Remember, consistent stroke, consistent effort, and consistent focus."

* * *

><p>Although Tomomi said that, however, Naoto was obviously having trouble. He still could not shoot well and although he was a moderately good passer, it was nothing amazing. He was able to grab some rebounds without much resistance, but really could not do much because everyone outside of his opponent had a few inches in height and wingspan to him, and was able to stay in front of his assignment more often than not. But, still: nothing impressive. Maybe it was luck, or because of the people around him… But, his team was still competing well and that was the good part about it. There were about twenty seconds left and the opponent had the ball. The teams were tied, and luckily for Naoto's team, there was enough time left on the clock to ensure that they had the last possession.<p>

As the ball went up into the air with only about seven seconds left on the clock, Naoto, as well as the person he was guarding, began to scramble towards the basket. Once there, it became a matchup of physicality and Naoto, possibly because of his legs, was able to keep himself in position. The ball soon bounced off of the side of the rim and trajectory was obvious. So obvious, that he jumped into the air as soon as it took off into the air again. At the exact same time, his teammate's matchup jumped as well and inadvertently bumped into Naoto while in midair. Maybe it was luck, but Naoto's hands managed to touch the ball first and he was able to direct it towards his teammate that was nearby. His teammate reached up and grabbed the ball, as Naoto landed on the ground and immediately began sprinting down the court. "Here you go, Naoto!" he yelled before he hurled the ball in Naoto's direction, bouncing once in front of Naoto before he took control of it with his right hand and continued his sprint. He could see his matchup in his peripherals, but continued running regardless. _'This is my only chance to make some kind of impression,'_ he reminded himself.

To those, however, who were watching from the sidelines, it was readily obvious what was going on. _'Fast… And a good jumper as well,'_ Tomomi observed, _'He lacks the fundamentals… But, he's an above average athlete, no doubt about it.'_ As Naoto approaches the rim, he releases the ball with his right hand. The ball bounces off of the rim a couple of times, but what Tomomi was more concerned about was Naoto, who feels the impact of someone from behind him and stumbles forward and onto the gym floor. Even though it was not noticeable to those who were watching, Tomomi's eyes widened and her own legs began to shake.

Meanwhile, Naoto could feel his knee bang against the gym floor as he crashed against it. After a few moments of anticipation, the players who were just on the court begin moving in Naoto's direction. "Hey, Fujimoto, you okay?" a couple of the players asked.

Naoto sat up and rubbed his knee. It was aching and was stiff, but he could tell easily that there was no long-term damage done. "I'm fine," he replied as he got up from his sitting position to stand up.

"Watch them brakes," one of the players recommended as Naoto, embarrassed, rubbed the back of his head and laughed.

"Still, though, that was a good play," complimented the person who bumped into him. "Sorry about that. I thought that doing a hard foul would stop the play…" One of the players walked over and hit him on the head.

"Dude, this is practice. Do we really need hard fouls?" he scolded his contemporary. "Hey, Tomo-chan! Knock some sense into this guy, will you?"

Their gazes drifted to Tomomi, who soon snapped out of her thinking and put on a sinister smile on her face. "Okay, then!" she replied cheerfully. However, Naoto noticed it. The widened eyes, the parted lips… She liked basketball so much, so why would she ever watch a game with that kind of look on her face. _'Was she… worried about me?'_ Naoto wondered as the coach strolled over to the group.

"Nice job everyone and nice try there, Fujimoto, even if you did miss."

"Huh? I missed?" Naoto asked, looking over to the rest of the team.

"We said 'good play,' not 'good shot,'" one of the players replied before said player reached out his hand for Naoto to pick up.

* * *

><p>It was now late and Naoto, being the newest recruit (as well as a first-year), had the outstanding privilege of putting the basketballs back into storage. As Naoto begins to push the tin cart towards the door to the storeroom, Charmaine drifted in from above and floated next to Naoto. Naoto, who was not paying attention to his surroundings, instinctively jumps away from Charmaine when she appears. <em>'I almost forgot about her! Wait, she can fly?'<em> he mused, startled.

"You didn't really interact with her that much today," Charmaine commented.

"The most important thing is that I got my foot in the door. Now, she'll be used to me being in her life, even if it's just here. It's important to galge and visual novels," Naoto explains. "Even if I just failed all day…"

"I didn't ask you to succeed in basketball… Just in making her fall in love with you," Charmaine encouraged.

"If only that was easy…" Naoto sighed. As Charmaine drifted into the storeroom, Naoto paused for a moment before he noticed someone walking around out of the corner of his eye. _'Is there someone still here?'_ He looked over to notice auburn hair dressed in a red zip-able jacket, red sweatpants, and white sneakers. As that was the same outfit as what Tomomi was wearing earlier, Naoto automatically assumes that it is Tomomi. But, she seemed to be engrossed in something at the moment. Her eyes were directed towards the nearest basketball hoop and her body stood still. Naoto blinked a couple of times before he silently flipped up the lid to the cage for all of the basketballs, took out a single basketball, and then closed it.

Although Charmaine was confused, she decided to stay quiet and watch. Naoto began to dribble the basketball, which grabbed Tomomi's attention almost instantly. She looked in his direction with a blank face that Naoto was surprised to see. "Fujimoto-kun," acknowledged the female, "almost done cleaning up?"

"Yeah, I wanted to at least get a few more shots in," Naoto lied, dribbling the basketball in Tomomi's direction. "My shot is really erratic, and the practice match is coming soon, so I want to get better as soon as possible."

"That is true. Your shot is really erratic," she jabbed at him with a small smile on her face. As Naoto moved to take a shot once again, Tomomi's eyes quickly drifted to the knee that he had banged against the hardwood floor before. The shot bounced off the rim and as Naoto moved to get the ball, Tomomi's eyes stayed focused on the knee. "Is your knee okay?" she asked absentmindedly.

'_So, she really is worried about my knee,'_ he affirmed as he grabbed the ball with both hands and looked in Tomomi's direction. "It's fine. A little stiff, a little sore… But, nothing to concern about."

"I see," she replied. "Then that's fine." The girl began to walk off.

'_Although it wasn't intentional, I did manage to hit something. This could be my chance to get somewhere…'_ Naoto reasoned.

**A.** Suggest teaching him

**B.** Suggest walking home together

**C.** Do nothing

'_I could do nothing…'_ Naoto pondered. _'But, this may be one of the only times where I can take advantage of the situation.'_

"Would you like to play with me? I would like it if you taught me some more," Naoto asked. In the back of his head, he was almost rejoicing. _'Maybe I could possibly get some alone time with her even beyond today, if this works.'_

"I can't really play. My knee's in a brace," Tomomi replied. All Naoto could do is hang his head, although he did notice that she mentioned that her 'knee' is in a brace.

'_No wonder she seemed to be so shaken by it,'_ he reasoned.

"But, I can tutor you," Tomomi replied. Naoto looks to Tomomi, who has a devilish smirk in his direction. "Better warn you, though, you have a lot to work on."

Naoto could feel a chill down his spine. All he could do, though, is just nod. "Please take good care of me," he cautiously stated.

* * *

><p><strong>Day 2<strong>

It was the end of practice for his second day and Charmaine, appearing once again beside him, accompanied Naoto to the storeroom.

"So, according to what I've gathered to this point, she seems to have fear of getting injured. As in other words, we have almost nothing," Naoto explained.

"Well, we still have some time. We don't need to solve all of her problems, either," Charmaine replied.

"The thing is, though, if her gap in her heart comes from her not being able to play basketball because of injury, then we can't do anything," Naoto sighed. "And you said before that it went into her recently, right?"

"Yeah, it did, based on our logs," Charmaine noted.

"So, why did the gap appear just recently?" Naoto asked to no one in particular, "You would think that she would have gotten the gap at any given moment during the last year of middle school." Naoto leaves the basketballs in the storeroom as he proceeds to step out of the room with Charmaine walking alongside him.

"Not going to train with her tonight?" Charmaine asked.

"Please don't remind me," Naoto replied with a deadpan expression. "I'm still aching from the last one." As Naoto continues walking across the court, he notices the same auburn-haired girl from before, aka Tomomi, dribbling a basketball. _'Did I forget about one?'_ he wondered before he opened his mouth to say something. However, before he could get a chance to, Tomomi threw the ball towards the backboard and ran towards the basket. As soon as she got within range, she jumped into the air, caught the ball as it rebounded off of the backboard, and lightly tapped it towards the hoop. The ball went in, as well, but Naoto did not care. What he just saw was in direct contradiction with what he previously believed. "Well, that was definitely different," he spoke before Tomomi looked back at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but Naoto beat her to it. "So, you're not injured anymore."

And awkward moment filled the air. But, Naoto knew one thing: if anyone was going to make a move, it was going to be Tomomi.

All that Tomomi could do at that point is pick up the basketball, as well as a brace that was resting near the basketball hoop and began running away from Naoto, towards the female dressing room. As soon as Tomomi disappeared from sight, Charmaine floated over to Naoto. "Well, that was a surprise," she commented. "I wonder what she would be hiding behind an injury for…?"

Meanwhile, Naoto closes his eyes and puts his right index finger to his forehead. _'Injury, fear, playing…'_ he began to wonder. What could the reason be that the route has worked out like this? His eyes soon snap open and his mouth begins to hang. It soon curved into a smile. "It looks like all the pieces have lined up now. The path to the finish is clear!" Naoto spun on his heel and began to walk away. "I'll confess tomorrow."

Charmaine was not sure what had come over Naoto, but seeing the amount of confidence that he had, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "Fine. Do you need my help at all?" she asked.

"Yes, actually, I do."

* * *

><p><strong>Day 3<strong>

"So," began Charmaine softly, "how long do we have to be crammed under my hagoromo for?"

That day's practice was commencing and although Naoto was there, he was hiding underneath Charmaine's purple cloth. As a result, no one could see him or Charmaine and most of the people on the team wondered where exactly Naoto could have gone off to. However, Tomomi, despite the usual smile on her face, was lacking in energy. Naoto did not need to wonder why, but everyone on the team did. Hearing Charmaine's question, Naoto looked over to her.

"Until the club is over. I need to create a false sense of security to make Hisono-san feel confident about going to the basketball court," Naoto explained, "If I go in there today, then she'll think that I'm going to confront her and she won't stay."

"Is it very important that you confess to her here, though?" Charmaine interrogated further.

"If I confront her anywhere, then she'll be on guard. But, if I confront her here without her noticing me at first, this is the only place where I can startle her. That's because she feels at home here," Naoto explained. "This is the only place that I know of has that and is easy for me to get to."

"Hm… For someone who wasn't confident to begin with, you sure seem to have a plan now," Charmaine lightly jabs.

"Honestly, I don't even know how I formulated this strategy…" he muttered to himself before he felt Charmaine shift a little bit beside him. "Hey, don't take the covers." Naoto began to shift as well.

"Well, it would be less of a problem if they found you then if they found me." Charmaine began to shift further until she had her body up against Naoto's.

"Hey, haven't you ever heard of 'personal space?'" he asked rhetorically as he felt the blood rush to his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Tomomi's POV<strong>

Practice usually goes quickly, but for some kind of reason, my heart wasn't in it today. I wouldn't say that the absence of Fujimoto-kun completely rid me of my confidence, but he did see me yesterday… All I can do is sigh. Why didn't I say anything to him? It's not like running off did anything to erase his memory or explain myself! But, I would have looked weird, I'm sure of it, spilling out my hidden thoughts to someone who I had just noticed the day previous. I know he was in class today, and we even left around the same time… So, he must have decided to not come here. It probably would have been awkward for him too. I mean, he doesn't look like the type who would spill something like that. But, it still would have been on his mind and he probably would have confronted me about it.

Anyways, today's practice has ended and because Fujimoto-kun isn't here, I decided that I would pick up after everyone. That way, everyone can leave and I can play for a little while. As I collect the basketballs, the players approach me with goodbyes, as well as the coach himself. I will admit, though, that I feel almost… empty about it. I enjoy being their manager and helping coach and being part of the intricacies of it, but I wish I was out there playing. Well, of course I can do it now physically! But, I just can't do it… Whenever my feet leave the ground, I feel fear now. How can I play like this? But, is it enough reason for me to not even mention that I'm better? Everyone expects me to play basketball… So, how would I explain to them that I'm too afraid to take the court?

After I pick up the last of the basketballs, I wheel the cart over to the rim and stare up at it for a moment. Well, a couple of shots wouldn't hurt… I flip over the lid to the cart and proceed to take a ball from the cart-

* * *

><p>"Do you want to play basketball? I could play with you," Naoto asked, getting his body out from under hagoromo. He could hear Charmaine whisper 'Good luck' as he proceeded towards Tomomi, who was looking at him with dilated pupils. "You shouldn't look at me like that… I'm not going to do anything."<p>

'_I'm not ready for this,'_ Tomomi affirmed to herself as she bit her mouth. She managed to curve her mouth to a smile. "Well, you're sure late, Fujimoto-kun. Did something hap-?"

"I wanted to see you and only you," Naoto interjected. All that Tomomi could do was feel the blood rush to her face and Naoto could notice it, even from his distance. "I'm not going to tell anyone about this."

"I know," Tomomi replied softly.

"But, I want to know why," he added. "No, I don't want to know the reasons why you won't play. But why you won't face it?"

"I am facing it!" Tomomi exclaimed. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"You're just running away, hiding behind the injury."

"No, I'm not! I- I'm doing this for my own good!"

"Even though it's tearing you up inside?" Naoto asked.

"If I told everyone, then they would push me to play basketball again! I don't want to be pushed into it!" Tomomi hung her head and looked down to her knee. "I am-"

"No one's ever told you that, though, have they?" Naoto asked softly, with Tomomi snapping her gaze back to him. "The reason why you're afraid is because you're worried that you'll go back into it too early. I bet your doctor told you that people who dislocate their knees are prone to having it happen again." Naoto could notice that Tomomi's casted down towards the gym floor in shame.

"It came up… During our rehab sessions," Tomomi began speaking softly. "It hurt, really… when my knee literally broke on me. Everything in it was injured. I think that part of me wanted to forget about it… But, now, it's hard for me to even trust my own knees anymore. I just remember that time and I- I- I freeze when I'm out there." Tomomi's eyes began to tear up and Naoto began walking towards her again, a little bit astonished to notice at the sight that the bright and happy Tomomi was reduced to.

"Why can't it shake from my head? I've worked so hard to get myself here, and yet the fear is just taking it all away," she cried.

"It's hard. But, wouldn't telling everyone be better?" Naoto asked, trying to calm down Tomomi, "Because you see… playing basketball is what you want and you can wait for the fear to subside. But, fear can only be handled with time. But if you have people alongside you, then you can face the fear until it goes away. And I-"

Tomomi looked to Naoto to see him with hand over his mouth. Honestly, even thinking about saying the words did not equate to actually saying them. "I… can be there for you if you want," he suggested, the words partially muffled by his hand. Despite that, however, Tomomi could hear the words and blushed herself. However, soon, Tomomi broke out in laughter. _'Was it really that funny?'_ Naoto wondered as he began to feel a little glum.

The laughing, however, soon ceased as quickly as it started. "Honestly, I don't know if you can even handle ten percent of my troubles," Tomomi lightly jabbed, teary-eyed with a bright smile on her face.

"If you're willing to depend on me for ten percent, then I'll be there," Naoto replied, a smile growing on his face.

"I'd have to think about that." Tomomi slowly walked over to Naoto and looked eye-to-eye with him. "However… thank you." Naoto soon felt something warm on his lips. It took a moment, but he quickly realized that Tomomi's lips were on his own.

'_A kiss?'_ Naoto was stunned, so much so that he didn't even make an effort to fight back and could only blush. Before he could close his eyes and enjoy the moment, however, he looked behind Tomomi to see the same ghastly being detach from Tomomi's body and began floating up into the air. _'It must be trying to escape! Where's-?'_ However, as Tomomi fell into Naoto's arms, apparently knocked out, Charmaine appeared above the ghastly being with a massive jar, almost the size of herself, in her hands. "You're going to capture it with a jar? Where did it come from any-?" Then, Naoto began to think about it and thought, _'Oh, magic cloth.'_

"Just watch me," Charmaine replied, brimming with confidence. As the spirit saw the jar, it soon began to move away from it, but a wind was starting to pull it in. "Come on…" she muttered to herself as the spirit began to drag into the jar before she pulled up, towards the ceiling, which caused the spirit to go completely inside before she put a lid on it. With that, the jar began to shrink to a size that fit comfortably in one of Charmaine's hands. "Nice, first spirit captured."

All Naoto could do was just sigh. "What kind of world did you suck me into, demon?" he asked with a small smile on his face.

"Hm… I wonder," she replied with a small laugh.

* * *

><p><strong>Naoto's POV<strong>

It has been a few days after the capture. Literally, the day after the conquest, Hisono told all of the boys that she would be leaving to play with the girls. Rumor has it that the club was devastated, so devastated that they even forgot that they had lost their phantom ninth member as well on the same day. Hisono is apparently on the bench for the girls' team, but everyone seems to be in the loop about her worries. Meanwhile, well-

* * *

><p>Naoto could feel something hit against his desk. He readjusted his desk before looking up to see who could have bumped into it. Noticing the auburn hair that he had grown to like over the course of the last week, he knew it was Tomomi. "Sorry, Fujimoto-kun," she said, with a small blush appearing on her face. That was a first. She did not even know his name before the conquest.<p>

"No problem, Hisono-san," he replied with a smile creeping across his features. As Tomomi began to run off, Naoto looked back at her for a moment. _'Apparently, she doesn't even remember the events between the two of us… Well, it's probably better that way for me.'_ Naoto soon blinked a couple of times. _'Now that I think of it, what happened to her?'_ Naoto soon noticed that the teacher had entered the room and opened his notebook to get ready for class.

"Excuse me, class, I would like to introduce a new student," the teacher informed. As the student stepped inside, Naoto's jaw dropped as he mindlessly stared at said new student. "She is a transfer student from Europe. Please introduce yourself, Ms. Williams."

'_C- Char?'_ Naoto managed to think as Charmaine's eyes drifted around the whole class before settling on him.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Charmaine Williams," Charmaine greeted, "I am a transfer student who is going to be living with Naoto-kun." All of a sudden, Naoto could feel the glares of all the males in the room focusing on him.

'_Did she have to put us on first name basis, too?'_ Naoto trembled in his seat.

"Please take good care of me," Charmaine bowed and showed a half smile to the class.

And that was how the normal life that Naoto Fujimoto was okay with leading began to crumble…

* * *

><p><strong>Author Post-Chapter Notes:<strong>

So, that's it. So, in this part, I tend to just mention anything that may be going on, or maybe mentioning something that I may be writing in excess to the next chapter (if this does expand beyond a oneshot, mind you). Usually after the arcs for each of the girls, I do a little bit of an editorial on them, I guess. So, for Tomo-chan:

Tomomi was really made to grab the essence of Ayumi all over again at least on the surface. Tomomi's struggle had everything to do with her injury and the mental repercussions that could come from having a devastating injury like that. I was told, when I broke my ankle this past year, that part of the problem of getting to one-hundred percent again was regaining the confidence that you can do all of the things that you're told that you can do with the part. In that, her gap was actually multilayered: it wasn't the fear of getting injured again that was the problem, well it was, but it wasn't the gap. It was actually that her worry that the fear would interfere with her playing basketball again that caused the gap. That's why fixing her worry and not her fear forced out the spirit.

Personally, I really enjoyed writing her. Of course, people will probably say, "Well, of course you did, why wouldn't you be writing a fanfic if it wasn't for fun?" And I can understand where they're coming from. I just think that sometimes it's nice to emphasize that point so I can remember it. I tend to be very critical about my work, especially anything that I've written that I've put up on the internet because I'm broadcasting it.

Anyways, enough about me. Please read and review! I really appreciate any kind of input, just as long as it is constructive (or it makes me feel better about my writing, admittedly). I will mention that if this fanfic continues, there will be an omake for Tomomi either after the third chapter or the fourth chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pre-Chapter Author Notes:** Honestly, I might have always been planning on writing this as a longer series and might have just wanted to get some peoples' opinion on my work. Anyways, this chapter will remind people of at least the structure of Episode 2 of the anime and I'm sorry for getting this out one day late; I wanted to at least get a chapter out a week. Next week's chapter should come out either next Sunday or Monday, I assure you. Now, off to answering the reviews, I guess.

**TheNextGenOtaku: **That's actually kind of what I wanted to get at with the pair of Charmaine and Naoto, actually. Charmaine's more or less supposed to be an equal or a superior (there's a little bit of a reference to that in this chapter) to Naoto. It's unlike Elsie and Keima's relationship, where Keima is considered to be the 'more capable' member. But, it's mostly because of Naoto's character that it allows her to be that way and vice versa.

**48691412:** Thanks for reviewing; that's really all I can say.

**Wolf's Honor:** I'm happy that you thought that the first chapter started off nicely. I will admit that the chapter itself felt similar to that of Ayumi's capture (although I didn't realize how similar it was to Sumire's until you mentioned it). I'm trying to make it a little bit more original and I'm hoping that this next chapter will begin that trend.

**DarkFionist:** Thank you for the review and for compliments on my writing style.

Read and review, please! It makes me feel better knowing that people have read my work and are willing to comment on it. Even if you have to say that it's completely terrible with one-dimensional characters, horrible written transitions, and clichéd storyline plots, I would like to know. (And trust me, your critical review would probably just be one added to the ever-growing list of critical reviews that I give my own writing.) Thanks in advance!

Oh, right before I do the disclaimer, Tomomi-chan's omake should be released at the end of this next arc. It won't be my quota chapter for the week (well at least I'm hoping not) so there should be two chapters coming out that week.

And here's the disclaimer: I don't own TWGOK. If I did, then I wouldn't be waiting on pins and needles to figure out who Mercury's host is!

**Flag 2.0: The Transfer Student from Hell  
><strong>

It was lunchtime and the Class 1-B was filled with an energy that Naoto had not remembered seeing ever since the first day of school. Centered all around the strawberry blonde girl who sat the seat to the right of him, Naoto could not help but feel suffocated by the amount of people that gathered near his desk. Males and females alike wanted to know about the chilled beauty known to them as Charmaine Williams. The daggers of glances thrown at Naoto at the beginning of day were nowhere to be seen as Charmaine continued to entice the classroom with her stunning beauty and intellect. _'I'm almost sure that even the history teacher has a crush on her,'_ Naoto reckoned with a small sigh. _'And I would have gotten out of this mess in the first place if she didn't request the seat!'  
><em>

"Hey, leave her alone," spoke a voice from the back of the class. The voice was familiar to him, as it belonged to the basketball queen, Tomomi Hisono. Her footsteps began inching closer in his and the crowd's direction but only when the footsteps stopped did Naoto make the effort to turn around. "All of you will have your chance to talk with Williams-san eventually. She'll die from suffocation if you surround her like this." The crowd began to disperse soon after Tomomi spoke up. Even though it was never addressed by anyone in the class, Tomomi held a level of power in Class 1-B. She was beautiful, an athlete, and an overall kind and energetic girl. Part of the reason why no male would ever speak up in her presence was particularly because she was the object of their affections as well. Once the crowd scattered across the room, Tomomi looked in the direction of Charmaine and showed a bright smile to her. "Sorry about that."

"It was no problem," Charmaine assured. She then looked up to Tomomi. "But, please, call me Charmaine or Charma. There's no reason for us to be so formal. We are girls and classmates, after all."

Tomomi let out a small giggle, "Charmaine-san, then. If you have any problems, then talk to me. I'll beat them up for you!"

"Oh, really dependent, I see," Charmaine slightly smiled in response to Tomomi's enthusiasm. She then turned down to her food and began eating as Tomomi walked back to the back of the room. Charmaine's eyes soon drifted to Naoto, who was eating his bento silently while staring out the window. _'He doesn't have anyone to eat with?'_ she wondered. Almost as if he felt her eyes on his person, Naoto turned back to Charmaine.

"Something wrong?" he inquired.

"Nothing in particular."

* * *

><p><em>Riiiiing!<em>

With the ringing of the final bell of the day, the students of Class 1-B began packing up to go. Amongst all of the chatter, Naoto looked to his phone. _'No new message, huh?'_ Naoto proceeded to put his phone back into his pocket before he slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and proceeded on his way out of the room. _'I guess I could go to the soccer club for a little bit…'_

"Naoto-kun, let's walk home together," a certain 'demonic' transfer student suggested in monotony. With that, the daggers of glares began once again, all focusing on the five foot seven inches that was the raven-haired teen. In this position, what else could he do outside of rejecting her request? Regardless, he was planning on staying at school for a while longer and even better, when did they ever agree that she was to stay at his place? Even if she posed as a foreign exchange student, chances were that the host family would have been notified beforehand. His family would not be fooled by her story; it had too many holes in it.

"I'm going to play soccer," Naoto informed before he slid the door in front of him open. "If you want to leave now, go right ahead." As soon as Naoto departed from the room, Charmaine let out a small sigh. She was not expecting him to warm up to her quickly, and the idea of her joining him at his house was sudden.

'_It's not like I wanted to do all of this stuff either,'_ Charmaine mused before she let out yet another sigh. The room was eerily silent for a moment, almost as if the people inside were waiting for Naoto to come back and accept the offer. Slinging her bag over her right shoulder, she was contemplating what she should do.

"He's so cold," a voice spoke up. Charmaine looked over to notice a couple of males that had lingered around, having a 'private' conversation that Charmaine could overhear rather easily. "He should at least escort Williams-san home. Clubs are cool and everything, but Naoto-san should be more chivalrous. Well, we could always take up the offer instead; what do you think?"

All Charmaine could simply do was just roll her eyes. It was not as if she was personally attached to Naoto; they had barely interacted outside of the conquest of Tomomi. Yet, she was not appreciating their criticisms. They were not necessary. Also, were they close with Naoto? They were using his first name… "Hey, do either one of you know where his house is?" Charmaine inquired the two, "I'm not sure if I could get there by myself."

"Not in particular…" one of the males spoke up, "I barely know the guy. He should live nearby, though. We could accompany you in your search." His companion eagerly nodded in agreement, a little bit too eager for Charmaine's taste.

However, Charmaine was surprised. Why would someone use someone's first name if they barely knew who they were? Regardless, same as before, they managed to reverse the situation so they would be seen as offering their services to the new student. It sounded pure; but she was smarter than that. "Thank you for the offer, but I think I will just wait for him," she replied before she stepped out of the classroom. As she began trekking to the fields behind the school, she heard something pound against the school, only to look down from the second story window to see a black mat of hair. _'Naoto-kun?'_

* * *

><p>Naoto, on the other hand, was kicking a soccer ball against the wall of the school. He was in a white t-shirt, red shorts, and black cleats. <em>'Should have expected that they wouldn't let me play,'<em> Naoto mused. _'But, I couldn't completely control that Mom wanted me to come home those other times…'_

"Hey, dude!" a voice rang out from behind Naoto. Naoto did not recognize the voice, so he ignored him under the pretense that he may not have been talking to him. However, he felt something tap against his right shoulder. Naoto glanced back to see a pair of ocean blue eyes staring back at him. Naoto's own eyes widened and he backpedaled out of surprise. The eyes belonged to a male with short, unruly red hair that looked similar to a raging flame. Unlike Naoto, who was dressed in his gym attire, he was still in his school uniform. The only discrepancy was a camera that was hanging off of his neck with its string. His mouth was curved into a curious smile as he looked Naoto over. "Hey, aren't you in my class? Fujiwara-san, right?"

"Wrong," Naoto bluntly denied. He remembered that the class had just mentioned the Fujiwara clan just a few days prior in history class. Even better, they did have an upcoming test that included them. Considering the situation, he could understand the reason why he could have gotten mistaken.

"Fujiyama?" questioned the redhead.

"Thinking about the mountain there," Naoto sighed. It was already starting to get out of hand. "It's Fujimoto, if you're wondering."

"Oh," awed the newly enlightened classmate. "Anyways, Fujimoto-san, are you in the soccer club? I am here for the school newspaper and I wanted to interview some of the members with Kagane-chan." Naoto took note of the name, but had no idea as to who that person would be. Regardless, though, the red-haired male continued, "Anyways, they busy with practice right n-?" Naoto blinked and wondered what could have been wrong for the redhead to stop talking in the middle of his sentence like that. "Isn't that the student everyone's been crushing on?" All Naoto could do was look behind himself to see what had captivated the young reporter and he was visibly stunned by what he was seeing.

Charmaine was running in Naoto's direction, completely changed into gym attire of her own: a white t-shirt that hung loosely on her body, a pair of white sneakers, and a red pair of bloomers. As she approached him, Naoto snapped out of his daze and raised his eyebrow. "What are you doing, Williams-san?" Naoto asked with a slight, faux smile on his face. However, before Charmaine could even open her mouth in response, the redhead reporter jumped in front of Naoto with a glint in his eyes. He was interested in the female; there was no doubt about that.

"Hello, Williams-san," introduced the redhead, "My name is Daichi Shinomura and I am with the school newspaper. Would you be willing to take a couple of seconds to have an interview with me?" Both Charmaine and Naoto were surprised to see the redhead act so energetic. "Judging from your clothes… are you trying to get in a club, Williams-san? Which clubs are you interested in? Track, maybe, or basketball?"

"Hey, Dai-kun," a voice, a feminine one, rang out from behind Naoto. Yet, another person had arrived to join the group. Her voice was detached; Naoto had never heard someone act so familiar to a person and yet so distant at the exact same time. He looked behind himself once again to see a dainty girl, about half a foot shorter than he was, looking at the group of three. Naoto could notice a blank expression on her face and a camera held within the grasp of her small, petite hands. In the moments that he saw her, Naoto believed that she looked like a porcelain doll. Her face was emotionless and even though it looked human, she looked like she would break if not handled properly. "We've secured an interview with the captain of the team, so we should get going." Again with the detached voice. Her eyes, a pair of steel, glazed over gray orbs, kept its sights on the redhead.

"Yes, Kagane-chan!" Daichi replied, saluting to the girl. "Fujimoto-san, Williams-san, I'll be taking my leave!" With that, Daichi began to stroll towards the field and the petite girl turned on her heel almost mechanically and followed him. In the distance, Naoto could notice a tall male with light blonde hair. He was wearing the same attire as Naoto, but Naoto already recognized him from his introduction to the team: that was the captain of the soccer team. Meanwhile, however, there was a female who was standing beside him, with her head tilted towards the ground so he could only make out her hair and her school uniform. Regardless, however, it seemed as if the two reporters would not be returning in his direction anytime soon.

And that left the buddy pairing to their own devices. Naoto looked to Charmaine and seeing the gym attire once again, remembered what he wanted to talk to Charmaine about. "So, what is with the bloomers?" he asked bluntly, pointing to the red piece of clothing that clung tightly to Charmaine's private parts. "You do know that only girls in anime and video games wear those things, right?"

"And?" Charmaine asked, changing the target of the interrogation back to Naoto. Naoto was surprised to hear the female's forthcoming nature about the clothes, but the only way that he could demonstrate that was with a sigh. "I was mistaken, I will admit; but if it incited any kind of feelings in you, you can only blame your own hormones."

"Oh, don't worry," Naoto began, rolling his eyes, "It didn't do anything. So, why are you out here?"

"I wanted to see you play and maybe play myself," Charmaine explained, pointing to the soccer ball that rested near Naoto's feet. "Aren't you going to play with the others?"

"I'm an unofficial member," Naoto explained, "I'm usually busy with other things after school so I only come here once every few practices. Because of that, I'm not on the team for many of the games. I'm a very far-off reserve, if you need to think of it that way." He lightly tapped the ball near his feet towards Charmaine, who only simply stared at it as it gently hit against her sneakers. "You need cleats, though, and I'm not particularly interested in staying, so I might just head home." Naoto put his hands into his pockets as he began to walk towards the boy's locker room.

"Then, I should change as well," Charmaine reasoned. Naoto, out of sheer reflex, turned back to her.

"You're really not going to give up on staying in my house, are you?" he asked, already knowing what answer she was planning on giving him.

"Not at all. It's important to my job."

* * *

><p>The walk to Naoto's house was silent as the two high school students walked side-by-side, not looking at one another. On Naoto's part, he did not know particularly what they would talk about and was personally dreading the moment that his mother would set his eyes on Charmaine. But, the moment that Charmaine had mentioned that staying with him was important to her job, Naoto remembered what exactly was at stake. The girls in danger and hell's problems aside, the ring around Naoto's neck was still there. Thus, the contract was still in effect and he was at the whim of whatever Hell wanted him to do, just as long as it was reasonably making Charmaine's task easier. As her human buddy, whatever made Charmaine's task easier made his job easier.<p>

Naoto's house lied only fifteen minutes walking distance from the school and consisted of a small, beige compact two-story house with a small yard out front. The gate to the yard creaked open as Naoto pushed it open and proceeded inside the property. "We need to put more oil into this," he muttered to himself as he left the gate open for Charmaine to enter as well, which she did before closing the gate behind her. She followed only a couple of feet behind Naoto, looking at the yard to notice a small, light blue ball laying unattended in the yard.

'_Who does that belong to?'_ Charmaine wondered as Naoto reached into his right pocket and removed a set of keys from it. Slipping his key into the lock of the red painted entrance to the house, a single click could be heard before a set of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door.

Once Naoto swung the door open, there stood near the entrance a young boy. Looking no older than six, he had black, messy hair not too unlike Naoto's own hair. His breathing was a little bit irregular, but it was possibly from him sprinting to the door. "I'm home," Naoto announced, beginning to step into the house after taking off his shoes.

"Welcome back, Big Brother!" greeted the young boy with a bright smile on his face. "Did practice end early today? It's irregular for you to be back so early when Mom's home-." The young male's dark blue eyes soon set on Charmaine before he blinked a couple of times. His eyes widened before he announced loudly, "Mom! Nao-onii-chan's brought a girl home with him!" All Naoto could do is hit himself on the forehead with his left hand before he moved to mention something to his younger brother.

"Really?" exclaimed a voice coming from the other end of the house. Naoto sighed. Now, there was no way he could say anything in hearsay. A female stepped into the hallway, standing a couple of inches shorter than Naoto in her heels. She wore a purple, long sleeved shirt and a white skirt, with a white apron draped over it and a wooden spoon was gripped in her left hand. She pushed her blonde hair behind her ear. Seeing Naoto and then Charmaine, the female covered her dark blue eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and began sniffling. "Naoto," she began between her sniffles with a dramatized pause, "So you've aware of girls now. Please make me a grandmother so I can die peacefully."

Naoto's jaw hung from its socket as he watched his mother's performance in front of him. "Don't jump ahead of me off of an assumption!" he sighed once again. He looked over to the side before he whispered, "And anyways, we might be all dying tonight anyways if you're actually cooking…" In an instant, Naoto felt something long and thin hit against his head. "Ow." He began rubbing his head before he looked at the instrument of his assault; the wooden spoon still within the grasp of his mother's right hand.

"Really, I was trying to surprise you…" the older female chided before looking to Charmaine. "Anyways, please come in. I am Naoto's mother, Nanami Fujimoto." She then proceeded to point to the small boy looking up at Naoto, Charmaine, and herself. "And that is Taiki, his younger brother. So, who are you, Ms. Beauty?"

Charmaine put on the most charming smile she could before she greeted, "My name is Charmaine Williams." She pulled a pink envelope from out of her bag. "I am the foreign exchange student assigned to your household. Here's the letter proving it." Nanami took the letter in her hand before she looked to it and then to Charmaine, before back to the letter. It seemed as if Nanami was waiting for the moment where Charmaine would reveal that what she had just said was a joke- just a way to break the ice between the two of them. However, the revelation did not come and Nanami soon found herself opening the envelope with a pinch of haste.

As she continued to read the letter, Nanami's expression only seemed to get more animated. "This is completely real," she commented, almost in a daze. "But, it's already hard enough as is…" Soon, Nanami's legs began to feel weak and her head began to feel light. She staggered backwards before Naoto quickly moved to grab her. Her weight fell against Naoto's chest as she lost the wooden spoon she was just holding hit the floor; she had lost grip of it as well as her own consciousness.

Naoto struggled to keep his mother upright as he looked over to Taiki and Charmaine. "Taiki, open the door to the living room and get some of the pillows ready," he grunted as raised his right leg and pointed it towards the nearest door.

"Yes, sir!" Taiki confirmed before he pushed the door open and left Naoto's sight.

Meanwhile, Naoto gently placed his mother on the ground before he looked to Charmaine. Before he even had a chance to say anything, however, Charmaine had already gotten to his mother's legs and hoisted them up before Naoto did the same with his mother's torso. "Now, let's get her into the room," Naoto suggested.

* * *

><p>Now in the living room, Taiki was busy fanning his mother's face. She had just fainted, but now the three people in the house were left to fend for themselves. Because of this, Naoto and Charmaine, being the two oldest people in the house, were now in charge of watching after the house. "I'm going to make some dinner," Naoto announced as he stood up from the sitting position that he was taking. "It's curry tonight, right?"<p>

"Yes," Taiki confimed, looking up to Naoto with a smile on his face. "Mom did want to make food for us tonight, though…"

"Yeah, but her cooking scares me," he informed. His attention then turned to Charmaine. "Can you help me out?"

"Sure," she stood up on her own as well before she moved to the kitchen with Naoto. A bubbling sound could be heard as Naoto moved towards a pot on the stove and removed the cover to it. He smelled it a couple of times before he dipped a finger inside and then put the finger in his mouth. His face immediately showed signs of perplexity, like he couldn't believe what he tasted, before he moved to the counter and let out a small sigh. There laid a rice boiler and he slowly removed the bowl to reveal that there was no rice inside. "So, what's the diagnosis?" Charmaine finally spoke up.

"The curry is salvageable, but it's plain… Even with the vegetables, it just tastes plain," Naoto raised his right eyebrow, essentially confused. "I've never had plain curry before… It almost tastes like paper, that's how plain it is." Now, Charmaine was confused. She personally never had much experience with human food; Hell's diet was considerably different just by judging the ingredients that were put into the food. Regardless, though, she decided to at least try the curry so she could better understand what Naoto was meaning. And judging from the perplexity on Charmaine's face, Naoto assumed that the message got across. "Anyways, can you please help me? I want to make at least some curry and rice before dinner time. I'll focus on the curry, while you focus on the ri-."

"Only thing is though," Charmaine interjected, "I don't know human cuisine very well."

"It's simple," Naoto assured the demon. "Water, rice and salt in the boiler. Boil for about fifteen to twenty minutes. I'll set the boiler while you get the supplies." Naoto squeezed in between Charmaine and the boiler before beginning to calibrate it. Charmaine looked on for a moment before she walked towards the cabinet nearby.

* * *

><p>"So, it seems that it would perfectly fine to have Charmaine-chan here!" Nanami enthused. It was towards the end of dinner; Nanami had woken up from her fainting spell just as Naoto and Charmaine were bringing in the food from the kitchen. Up until that point, Nanami had not mentioned the prospect of Charmaine living with them. Naoto had just assumed that she was going to grudgingly bear with it. But, to see her so willing to accept her was a surprise. Naoto looked around the table and while Charmaine's face showed no signs of change, Taiki had a small smile on his face as well.<p>

But, just to be devil's advocate, Naoto felt as if he had to speak up, "Do you mind explaining why, if you don't mind my asking you are so willing to accept her?"

"Because she's a girl and she can cook," Nanami gleefully explained. "This rice tastes really good." She used the chopsticks held in her left hand to pick at some more of the rice on her plate. Placing it into her mouth, she put on a face of pure bliss. "Ah, how lucky we are to have gotten such a good cook," she praised.

Naoto sighed. _'So it's only for that? Maybe Dad was onto something when he said that she was always vouching for a girl,'_ contemplated the teenager. _'Still, though, I'm surprised. She mentioned that she didn't know much about cooking human cuisine, but she at least managed to make the rice properly. If anything, she's at least a better cook than Mom.'_

"Ne," Taiki began, wanting to grab Charmaine's attention. Once she looked in his direction, he put on a bright smile and continued, "Could I call you Charma-san?"

Nanami clapped her hands together. "That's a brilliant nickname, Taiki," she cooed, "Charma-chan… Sounds like 'Charm' in English, right?"

Charmaine was a little taken aback from the energy that emanating from the little boy and the older woman, but she decided to simply put a smile on her face and reply, "Sure, if you want to."

And the dinner continued like that… Taiki was enthused to have another 'older sibling' around and Nanami was already planning on taking Charmaine out to buy new, casual clothes on the next day off. Meanwhile, Naoto simply sat in his seat and watched everyone talk back and forth. Charmaine did not make the effort to say much, but it was enough to carry the conversation and keep his two family members engaged. _'Well, if it just continued like this, it would be fine,'_ he thought.

* * *

><p>"Well, good night, Big Brother, Charma-san!" Taiki said before he exited the room. They soon heard footsteps leading away from them and soon, above them, signifying that Taiki had gone upstairs.<p>

"I'm going to check in as well," Nanami announced, "I'm going to be off tomorrow, so there's no need for you to come home early." Nanami slid open the door to the living before looking back to Charmaine and Naoto. "Don't do anything too hasty, you two."

"We won't," Naoto replied bluntly, looking down at a sheet of paper.

"There's no problem," Charmaine added quickly, her eyes focused on her own sheet of paper.

All Nanami could do was just simply sigh. "I was hoping for a more lively response that that," she thought out loud. "Good night, you two."

"Night." The sliding door was the closed shut and footsteps could be heard heading up the stairs. It was shortly after dinner and Naoto and Charmaine were busy working on their homework. In between of the events afterschool and making dinner, they did not have much time for them to work on their homework at all. Naoto bit the eraser to his pencil as he stared at the paper silently before glancing over to Charmaine, who was scribbling down on the paper in haste. Naoto could only look on at her, impressed, before she looked up to him.

"You sure know a lot," Naoto commented.

"I've already taken many of these classes in Hell." Charmaine put her pencil down on the paper before turning her attention to Naoto. "I'm no genius, don't worry," she assured him.

"There are classes in Hell?" Naoto asked, partially wondering what kind of classes one would have there.

"Yes, there are," Charmaine reconfirmed. "Besides from some particular differences, they are very similar to classes here. Math, history, language… I've had those classes as well in Hell. Like here, we graduate as well and go into the job market when we graduate. Some of us become anything as far as first-class public servants to being third-class and it's hard to make your way up from the bottom at that point." Naoto's eyes now showed a small tint of curiousness as he blinked and kept his eyes focused on Charmaine wordlessly. Charmaine looked over to him before she sighed. "Well, it would be a good time for me to share about the situation. Your mother and brother are not going to bother us and no one is bound to listen in."

Naoto began scribbling down on his paper once again. "I'm listening. I just need to get this done," he assured Charmaine.

"One of the places that you can graduate into is the Weiss Capture Squad. This is the group that I belong to right now. You can take the hagoromo, or raiment if you want to call it that, as a sign of a member of the Weiss Capture Squad," Charmaine elaborated, pointing to the purple cloth draped over her person. "We are to capture all of the souls that have escaped to this place from Hell before it's too late… And the souls get too powerful for me to contain. That's why I have to stay here, so I can help you with support whenever a spirit comes up. It could be worse, too."

"What do you mean by that?" Naoto pressed further, his eyes not leaving the paper.

"I could have said that I was your illegitimate half-sister. It was another letter I had in the bag," Charmaine gestured in the direction of her schoolbag as Naoto's pencil stopped moving and his eyes tilted up at Charmaine. "But, that sounded rather… insensitive to your family, so I decided to just go with the foreign exchange student option." Charmaine scratched the side of her face as she bashfully laughed.

All Naoto could do is look over Charmaine and compare her appearance to Taiki's and his own. Although he was satisfied with the Charmaine's decision, he wondered a) how would they even keep up that charade and b) the kind of person is her boss if they're willing to engage in house-wrecking to ensure that their workers stayed there. "How would you pass off as my half-sister anyways?" Naoto exhaled a large sigh. "Your boss sounds like a real demon."

"Well, she is… interesting," Charmaine assessed, making sure to choose her words carefully.

"So, why are you telling me this?" Naoto asked.

"Because it's only fair," Charmaine asserts before Naoto stopped scribbling and looked to Charmaine. "Honestly, I need you alive as much as you want to stay alive. I'll die if you do. You're my human buddy. I have to put my faith into you and that includes sharing information with you."

"Makes sense," Naoto replies as he propped his head up on his free hand. "But, still though, it sounds farfetched, even if I have seen it first-hand before. I guess that we should be careful…"

"Yes, we should be, Nao-kun," Charmaine playfully agreed.

Naoto's jaw hung when he listened to Charmaine and the hand that was propping up his head fell to his side. He could feel the blood rush to his face out of embarrassment. "N- No calling me that! If there's any kind of kindness you could show, it's that!" he exclaimed.

"Okay, okay," Charmaine replied, "But, no more of this 'Char' business, understand? Call me something else."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Flag **2.5: A Vogue Statement**

_Ding dong ding dong_

The night and early morning had passed without much incident and Naoto and Charmaine had just entered Class 1-B. To greet them at the door was the fire-redhead that they had the pleasure of meeting the day prior. "Why hello there, Fujimoto-san, Williams-san," he greeted enthusiastically. "Have you seen Senda-chan anywhere?" Once again, he had mentioned a name that Naoto had never heard of before. Considering that it was more of a hassle to say 'maybe' than 'no' in that situation, Naoto wordlessly shook his head. "Darn it. I wanted to talk to her before class…"

"Another one of your reporting targets?" Charmaine inquired.

"Well, yes and no. Since you are new here, you probably don't know, Williams-san… But, Senda-chan is the younger sister of Senda-san, the captain of the soccer team," Daichi noted. Naoto soon understood who that person was that he saw the day previous. It must have been the younger sister. "I wanted to thank her for securing a time for us to meet with her brother, but she disappeared yesterday before we were done. So, I wanted to talk to her today." He let out a sigh. "Well, I'll try it later." He began to stroll towards the back of the class as Naoto began towards his seat.

A splatter of greetings to Charmaine could be heard from all around the two students as Naoto moved to his seat and sat down silently. _'Popular, isn't she?'_ As the murmurs in the class continued, a girl with flowing blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail ran into the room. She bent down as she tried to catch her breath before looking at eyelevel to see the happenings in the class. Naoto, possibly because it caught his attention for a moment, glanced at the girl as her eyes continued to survey the classroom.

"Good morning, Senda-chan," one of the female students spoke up. "Don't worry. You're still on time."

The female let out a large sigh, "I honestly didn't think that I would have been able to get here in time…"

"Your brother ran late again?" one of the other female students asked, "Man, Senda-san is good-looking and everything, but he needs to think more. Not everyone can run like he can or as long as he can. He has to remember that he does have a younger sister that he usually ropes into it more times than not. He should just feel lucky that she's so nice. Right, Senda-chan?"

Naoto's interest was piqued as he looked at the blonde-haired girl. _'So, that's Senda, huh?'_ he noted.

The blonde-haired girl put on a small smile before she nodded in agreement. "That's true. I usually do get roped into these things, don't I?" shegiggled. Getting back up onto her feet, she proceeded to her seat towards the end of the class by walking in between Naoto and Charmaine without a word…

_Dorodorodoro_

Naoto's eye raised as Charmaine's soul sensor began to go off. He looked behind to see Senda continue on her path to her seat and the astonished faces of some of his classmates. "Charmaine-chan, what is that sound? And why is it emitting from the skull on your head?" one of the female classmates asked.

Naoto glanced over to Charmaine, who simply turned around and removed the soul sensor off of her head. "It's my pager," she lied, "Cute, isn't it?"

A moment of silence resounded throughout the whole classroom before another one of the females spoke up, "That's pretty! And it just snaps to your head? It doesn't hurt or anything, right?"

"No," Charmaine denied with a small smile on her face before she turned around and put the soul sensor back on her head.

'_Crisis averted,'_ the buddy pair thought in unison.

* * *

><p>"So, the secret meeting shall commence," Charmaine declared softly.<p>

"So, first matter of business: Why are we in the janitor's closet again?" Naoto asked, exasperated.

Naoto was currently fumbling around for the switch to the closet, an all too familiar feeling from their first conquest. Once he hits the switch, he glares to Charmaine, who was standing in front of him in the small, cramped space that smelt like bleach and cleaner. Naoto could feel the head of a mop resting near his face and a pail that still seemed to be full of water resting right behind his feet. With the door being pulled shut by Charmaine, Naoto had almost no choice other than standing in place and letting Charmaine have her way for the time being. "To keep the meeting place constant," Charmaine explained. "It's easier to have one place for us to go to. It makes our operations more methodical."

"And we can't be methodical in any other place other than this one?" Naoto sighed.

"Anyways," Charmaine began before she manipulated her raiment to create a screen once again. After a few moments, the information began to appear once again, like it was a computer loading a website. "Natsuki Senda, age fifteen, Class 1-B. Appearance above average, athletic ability below average, intelligence above average. She has no club to speak of or prominent connections with anyone who is not her older brother." Charmaine began sliding her finger across the screen, trying to draw any more information. After a few seconds searching, she heaved a large sigh, "That's it."

"Huh? That's it?" Naoto asked, raising an eyebrow, "I could have gotten that much from watching her in class today."

"But, doesn't this explain enough about her as well?" Charmaine asked.

"If anything, it explains that she's a person who lives in her brother's shadow," Naoto replied, glancing over to the side. "Which means only one thing can be done here…"

"Soccer club?" Charmaine asked, remembering the conquest from before.

"No, because they wouldn't let me practice with them. I wouldn't get close enough to her without me sticking my neck out and looking awkward." Naoto crossed his arms and nodded in agreement with himself. "No, the best thing that I could do right now is to engage her now. Judging from her data, she doesn't have any outstanding friends and she clings to her brother. Soccer club is today… So, maybe she'll be forced to walk home by herself."

"So, strike where she's weak right off the bat?" Charmaine asked.

"Preemptive strikes are important…" Naoto asserted. But, then, he tilted his head. "But, I have no idea when or how I learned that so don't ask."

"Maybe you were one of 'those' kinds of guys in one of your other lives," Charmaine suggested with a deadpan expression on her face.

"Anyways, strategy meeting's adjourned," Naoto declared, deciding to completely ignore Charmaine's last comment. "So, if you'll excuse me."

* * *

><p>However, said plan would not be as easy for Naoto to execute. When he encountered Natsuki, she was part of a group of five girls. As the other four girls proceeded to gab away, Natsuki stayed a few footsteps behind them, chiming in only when they talked to her directly. Her face was casted towards the ground as she walked; she was more interested in something else rather than joining the conversation. Naoto was sure of at least that.<p>

However, the means to tail Natsuki was more of the story. Because they would surely notice them if they were to tail them normally, Naoto ended up hiding underneath Charmaine's raiment, essentially clinging onto her so the raiment would not suddenly slip off of him and cause a scene. With this, they were able to tail them even while being only a few feet away from them and luckily, the streets were not too busy. "It looks like the target is heading towards the shopping district," reported Charmaine. "Also, could you please lighten up with the vice grip? I'm not even sure if I'm using my diaphragm to breathe anymore." She was exaggerating, yes, but it was relatively uncomfortable under her raiment and having Naoto's death grip on her stomach was not making it any more enjoyable. _'I should have gotten a larger one. I wonder if the company does trade-ins…'_ speculated the strawberry blonde.

"Well, I'm sorry," Naoto grumbled. He loosened his grip around Charmaine's stomach before he glanced over Charmaine's shoulder and towards the group of girls. "Still, though, is that her group of friends?"

"I don't know," Charmaine admitted, "It was not in the file. But, it doesn't tend to go that deep into personal life that much. Invasion of privacy, really."

"This coming from the same people who could have decided to give me a foreign exchange student so she could stick around with me everywhere I go," Naoto snidely commented.

Charmaine kept her eyes forward, deciding to pay more attention to Natsuki than to the conversation that she was having with Naoto. After another minute or so, she spoke up again, "Can't you initiate an event right now? I mean, she isn't with her brother."

"No," Naoto immediately disagreed. Knowing that it would prompt an explanation, Naoto let the blood rush to his face as he thought of a way to explain why. "I- I'm a little bit intimidated. I mean, you girls travel in packs."

Charmaine snickered as she listened to Naoto speak. "For all of the aloofness that you have normally, you really are a novice when it comes to girls, aren't you?" Hearing Charmaine say it only increased Naoto's embarrassment. His face flushed and his eyes went towards the ground. "Don't worry. I'm here for you and-."

"To laugh at me," Naoto interrupted.

"And," Charmaine repeated herself, "to support you. Remember, I don't want to die either." Charmaine focused her attention forward once again before her eyes widened. "Naoto, Natsuki's split off from them and is going into a store," she alerted him.

"Good, then that should help."

"Let's follow them in," Charmaine suggested before she and Naoto went into a nearby alleyway and removed the raiment off of their bodies. As Charmaine looked around the corner to make sure that the girls had not seen them, Naoto interlocked his fingers and stretched his arms up towards the sky, letting out a satisfied sigh once he was done. "Well, let's go in."

When the two entered the store, the bell ringing to signal their entrance, their eyes quickly surveyed the area for their targets. It was a clothing store, divided into male and female fashions. As the two of them stood at the front of the door, a person approached the two of them. She was dressed in a white dress shirt that ran down to the button resting near her wrist and a pair of loose-fitting black pants. The pink lipstick that she was wearing stood out as she greeted the two high school students, "Welcome to our store. Is there anything in particular that you're looking for?" Her emerald green eyes blinked as she raised her long, manicured fingers to ends of her silky, bubblegum pink hair and began playing with it.

Charmaine put a bright smile on her face before she replied, "I was looking for some clothes. It would be nice if you helped me…" Naoto glanced in the direction of Charmaine for a moment before he sighed. He honestly hoped that she was not expecting him to buy anything for her.

"Please, this way," the female worker began walking towards one of the sections in the woman's department. Charmaine began to follow her and Naoto, after a couple moments of hesitancy, followed as well. "So, what kind of clothing are you looking for?"

"I was looking for some clothes that had some subtleties to them," Charmaine began. "There is this one guy I want to impress, but I don't want him to know I'm making the effort…" As Charmaine continued to talk, her eyes surveyed the store and once she caught sight of Natsuki nearby, she glanced back to Naoto and nudged her head in the direction that Natsuki was in. Naoto stopped in his tracks as Charmaine and shopkeeper continued their stroll away.

Although happy that Charmaine did that, Naoto let out a sigh. _'Hopefully, she doesn't actually end up buying anything… I can't imagine how I can deal with any kind of tab without a job,'_ he mused.

He moved in the direction of Natsuki cautiously, almost like a predator stalking its prey. Soon, he was just a foot away from her and possibly because she was busy looking at the different selections of clothing, she did not notice Naoto right behind her. He took a deep breath in and out before he opened his mouth to say something. However, Natsuki soon turned around, still unaware that Naoto was right behind her, and bumped her head right into his chest. Naoto staggered backwards but was able to keep his balance while Natsuki looked up to see Naoto's eyes.

"Sorry," Natsuki apologized softly, "It didn't hurt too bad, right?"

"N- No, not really," Naoto replied, shaking his head to assure her. "So, you're Senda-san, right? From my class?"

"Yes, I am," confirmed the blonde. "And yes, we're in the same class… Fujishima-san."

Naoto sighed. "It's Fujimoto," he corrected her. He looked back to Natsuki's face to see the blood rush to her face as Naoto continued to stare at her.

"I-I'm sorry," Natsuki apologized once again, embarrassed and ashamed, "You were at the practice yesterday, right? For the soccer team…"

"Yeah, I was." Naoto let out a small sigh before he rubbed the back of his head. He did not notice it, but after he acknowledged that he was part of the soccer team, Natsuki's irises darted down to the ground. "So, buying some new clothes?"

"Kind of…" Natsuki explained softly. "I'm here with some people that I know. They were heading off for one of those group date things so I decided to stay in here for a little bit." Naoto could only look away as an awkward smile came to his face. He was not expecting an explanation similar to what he just heard. But, he was at least glad that the situation gave him a chance to get close to Natsuki without the worry of running into anyone else. "How about you, Fujimoto-san?"

"Williams-san wanted some new clothes," Naoto lied.

"I see," Natsuki replied with a small smile on her face. "You two are getting along very well. Everyone in class says so."

'_I'm not sure how people look at us, though. We barely interact with one another during class,'_ Naoto mused. "Is that so?" Naoto questioned, "What do you think?"

"I don't know," Natsuki admitted, her body soon turning to the clothes once again. "I think that Williams-san is nice enough as is. She reminds me of my older brother in terms of her air… She just seems like the 'older sister' type." Naoto chuckled nervously, possibly because he could not help but admit that Natsuki's observations were on target. She picked up one set of clothing before she eyed it. "Shouldn't you get back to her? She is new here and she'll probably have her own problems."

"P-Probably," Naoto replied, his eye twitching. Why did he come up with that excuse in the first place? It was a natural progression to go back and help Charmaine.

"Oh, Naoto-kun," Charmaine breathed out. She had suddenly appeared with a set of four bags, something that made Naoto's mouth hang. He could only assume that whatever tab he had to pick up for those clothes were much more than what he actually had. That was, until Charmaine mouthed out the word 'raiment' before Naoto sighed. He didn't completely understand what she meant, but he just hoped that he wouldn't have to keep a large tab on it. "Isn't that Senda-chan?"

Natsuki looked to Charmaine with a shy smile as she looked at the strawberry blonde that towered a few inches over her. "Nice to see you, Williams-san," she greeted her. "Finished shopping? You sure seem to have bought a lot."

"Yes," Charmaine smiled, "Japanese fashion is very interesting. I never really found such interesting clothes back home." Charmaine then looked over to the clothes within Natsuki's grasp. "Buying clothes for yourself?"

"I guess you could call it looking for a new look," Natsuki hesitantly explained.

Charmaine hummed, pretending to think for a moment. "How about an accessory? Like a cute clip or something like that?" Charmaine asked with a smile on her face, pointing to the skull on her head. "A simple clip can change your whole look… Can make people pay attention to you if they notice the change, too." Natsuki's face brightened up for a split second, something that both Charmaine and Naoto noticed, before Charmaine gestured to Naoto. "Anyways, we should get going. Excuse me." Charmaine bumped into Naoto once before she smiled to Natsuki. "Please don't mind us." Naoto, feeling as if there was no other choice, decided to just go outside of the store with Charmaine, the bell ringing once again to signal their exit. Going back into the alleyway they were just in a short while ago, Naoto let out a sigh before looking to Charmaine.

"I was wondering where you went," Naoto began. "So, you bought all those clothes as part of the plan?" His eye began to twitch as Charmaine sighed and showed the inside of one of the bags. It was empty, same as the other three.

"I had to keep up appearances, so I made some bags out of my raiment," Charmaine explained before the bags disappeared in a small flash to reveal the same purple cloth-like object hanging on her shoulders. "Anyways, through that lady, I got some information about Senda-chan. She was very talkative." Naoto tilted his head in confusion. "Originally, I just wanted to create a good enough distraction to give you time and yet, give myself an opening to leave and help you whenever I thought it was possible."

* * *

><p>"<em>So, was he the guy who you were trying to impress?" the female shopkeeper asked. Charmaine, not wanting to implicate anything, decided to stay silent about the matter. However, that was apparently enough to imply something to her. "Oh, I see. Love is so pure… And he isn't bad to look at either, especially those eyes of his. I'll try to get you something cute."<em>

_As the shopkeeper turned around, all Charmaine could do was just sigh. "I really don't understand how people can draw those kinds of solutions about us," she muttered to herself._

"_But, he doesn't know, huh? He did go and meet up with Senda-chan, after all." That sparked Charmaine's interest. It seemed as if she knew Senda-san._

"_Do you know her?" Charmaine asked._

"_Well, not personally…" began the female shopkeeper, still searching for clothing. "She has been in here quite a bit recently. She'll buy one or two outfits at a time, too… I've worked with her, but she never seemed to be completely happy with my choices; it makes me feel a little sad, actually…"_

"_That's surprising," Charmaine wondered outloud. "I never thought that she had so much money…"_

"_That's what I thought!" exclaimed the female shopkeeper. "But, I heard that the last time she came, a young male ended up paying her tab. It was said that he looked really upset, though. I'm surprised to see that she came back so soon after that, actually…"_

* * *

><p>"So, she's been buying new outfits there a lot recently?" Naoto asked.<p>

"Sounds like it," Charmaine confirmed. "That's why I suggested the accessory, actually. I'm assuming that her older brother was not okay with her buying so much clothing but something compelled her to come back still…"

"It did sound like she was looking for something… Like a new form of fashion or something like that…" he spoke as he continued deciphering the clues in the back of his head. "It sounds like she is trying to change herself for some kind of reason… But, I can't imagine what…"

"Did she mention anything about her friends?" Charmaine asked.

"She almost sounded distant about them. She never actually referred to them as her friends," Naoto recollected.

"Do you think she's just trying to fit in? That could cause a gap," Charmaine suggested.

"But, with who? You saw her during class." Naoto tapped the top of his head. "She fits in just fine."

"To you, yes," Charmaine began, "But, you're even more distant than she is. To you, she gets talked to and noticed, so she must fit in. However, it's not that simple. Just having people talk to you isn't enough for people to feel as if they fit in."

They soon heard the bell to the store before Naoto peeked out of the alleyway to see Natsuki standing out in front of the store with a small bag in hand. _'She seriously did buy an accessory!'_ Naoto's eyes looked down to the bag, wondering what she could have bought before Natsuki began walking in the direction of Naoto. He quickly dipped his head back into the alleyway before he urgently whispered, "Hey, hide us! She might be able to see us in here!" Charmaine quickly put the hagoromo over her and Naoto's heads as Natsuki walked past the alleyway and bumped into someone.

"I- I'm sor-," she managed to say before her tongue got caught in her mouth and the bag that she was gripping onto so tightly dropped on the ground next to her. Naoto looked to see the person in front of her. He was a towering figure, a few inches taller than Naoto, and possessing a high-level body mass that clung tightly to his school uniform. He had jet black hair not too dissimilar to Naoto's own and a pair of auburn eyes that looked down at Natsuki intensely. "Kyosuke-kun…"

"Natsuki-chan," began the tall male before he looked at the bag resting next to Natsuki. "Out shopping?" His mouth biting as he possibly recognized the bag's distributor.

"Y- Yes," Natsuki confirmed before she picked up the bag and with eyes that only focused on the ground, she continued, "I- I'm here with some classmates from school. They're in a group date right n-." Natsuki's tongue caught as a blush came onto her face. Even worse, that was almost word-for-word the same explanation she had just mentioned to Naoto while they were inside of the store.

Naoto's eyes widened. The situation was starting to make sense.

'_Does… she have a crush on him?'_

Before Naoto had a chance for him to think of anything else, he heard someone speak up, "Even if you think of her as a little sister," Naoto looked to see the same tall, blonde from the day before approach Natsuki and Kyosuke. Natsuki had enough time to muster up a faint 'Yuji-onii-san' before the tall male stopped short of the pair. "But she **is** my little sister. And I don't want her to see you right now. She'll get hurt." Natsuki's gaze drifted towards the ground as Naoto blinked.

'_This could be the important point of the conquest… especially if Kyosuke-san is the person who caused her crevice!'_

* * *

><p><strong>Post-Chapter Author Notes: <strong>And that's the end of the Second Chapter! Looking back at this chapter, you may get some vibes of Chihiro (and maybe Asami, which is weird because I never read the light novels)… I apologize; that's just how Natsuki ended up getting written as. To me, the comparisons are as clear as day, but maybe that is just because I've become more self-conscious about this. But, if you read and review, I can get a better idea of what you think about it. Thanks in advance!


	3. Chapter 3

**Pre-Author Notes:** So, officially with this week, this is turning out to be one of my more popular fanfics. Yays! It already has more hits than some of the other fanfics that I've had that have been up for years (and then some) so I like the turnout so far and the reviews that I've gotten. And it looks like Monday is going to be my release date for the time being… It may or may not change based on my schedule, though. So, off to the reviews for the previous chapter.

_Wolf's Honor:_ I'm trying to write Char as a character whose level of intelligence is slowly revealed over the course of the story. She does have an important part in this chapter, as she is able to advance the flag when Naoto gets stuck (not too unlike Elsie, really) and I'm trying to Naoto and her separated a little bit so you observe the aspects of both characters. And I would still love to hear your opinion about this chapter.

_TheNextGenOtaku:_ Thank you! Charmaine is a character where I wanted to have her moments (like the janitor's closet and the bloomers) but still be of resource for Naoto. At least I got the resource part correct. :-)

Anyways, for the disclaimer: I do not own TWGOK or any of its subsidiaries (wait, it's not a company).

* * *

><p><strong>Flag 3.0:<strong>_The More Things Change…_

The air between the three people was so heavy, that if given physical form, might have crushed them. Of the three, two of them were blondes whose hair glimmered in the sunlight, the other had jet black hair that could take a life of its own during the night. The same two had lively, ocean blue eyes, while the other had auburn eyes that resembled that of an aging leaf. Those two eyes focusing on him showcased two separate emotional extremes: one, belonging to a male named Yuji, was an intense glare, fueled by a burning desire to protect his sister, while the other, belonging to the female named Natsuki, was a mesmerized stare, fueled by an emotion towards the other male that Naoto could only sum up in one word: attraction. Yes, the whole struggle seemed to be hinging on the feelings of the blonde-haired girl who held a small bag in her right hand. Naoto and Charmaine, however, were removed from the scene, huddled underneath the hagoromo with no intentions of getting out and preventing the conflict from transpiring. No, for them, it was a chance. All they had at this moment in time, all they had were broken pieces to the same story and none of them could definitively direct them to help the Natsuki.

'_I need information,'_ Naoto mused as his two golden orbs kept focused on the girl in front of him. _'I need the information necessary to reach the ending.'_

"A- Ano, how about the three of us-," Natsuki timidly spoke.

"I get it," spoke the male with auburn eyes. Although Natsuki tried to take the initiative, her words were mostly ignored by the two males. Her eyes directed towards the ground as the male walked briskly past her. "Take care, Yu-kun, Natsu-chan." But, his words probably lost their meaning as all that Natsuki could do was bite her lip as he walked past. As Natsuki simply stood in place, her brother walked in her direction and saw the bag in her hand.

He sighed, "How much did that cost? Is the receipt inside?" Natsuki just nodded before he rubbed the back of his head. "I thought you might have ended up bad, but I didn't think that you would turn to spending so much money to make yourself feel better…"

"I'm sorry, Onii-san," Natsuki apologized, her head still tilted towards the ground.

"It's fine. I'll pay off the tab. Just… no more, okay? Mom and Dad are starting to get worried too," Yuji informed Natsuki, "They say that they want the real Natsuki back soon." Yuji took his sister's hand and began to lead her back towards the shop.

"I understand," Natsuki replied, almost lifelessly.

Once the bell rang to signal the opening of the door to the shop, Naoto and Charmaine took the hagoromo off of their heads before standing up. Naoto let out a small sigh as Charmaine rubbed the back of her head. "So, did you get the same idea that I did?" Charmaine asked.

"That Natsuki seems to have a crush on that Kyosuke guy?" Naoto asked as he leaned against the nearby wall. "And that she is apparently so stunned that she has taken up binge shopping." Naoto put his right hand over his mouth as he continued to think. "Regardless, we should head home. There's no real point to sticking around here."

As Naoto and Charmaine began walking home, Charmaine could only think of one thing, _'Apparently, huh? Looks like she might be more layered than what I originally thought…'_

* * *

><p><strong>Day 2<strong>

Charmaine was standing at the gate, waiting with one of her eyes focused on the door to the school. A rare sight to the multitude of people who walked by was the fact that Charmaine had no Naoto at her side.

"_Looks like my Mom can't come home on time today,"_ _Naoto explained before he closed his cell phone and looked to Charmaine. "So, I have to watch after Taiki."_

"_So, today's a bust, then?" Charmaine asked, partially disappointed._

"_No," Naoto reassured Charmaine, "I think that today will be an important day for us regardless. Personally, I don't know if I can even fill the crevice in Senda-san's heart by myself."_

_Charmaine blinked, knowing that trying was the only thing she could do at that point. Naoto let out a sigh, "Today, however, you can observe her interactions with her older brother. I have a feeling that their relationship with Kyosuke-san is deeper than just being Senda-san's love interest. Even more, I'm not entirely sure if Kyosuke-san's the reason why her gap is there entirely."_

"_So, what am I supposed to do? Just observe?" Charmaine asked._

"_I guess so," Naoto shrugged. "I really don't know what else I could do right now. All I have is simply my short interaction with her in the store and the confrontation to run off of. Any data at this point is better than what we have."_

* * *

><p>Charmaine sighed. <em>'I can understand where he's coming from… This one is particularly difficult because it's hard for us to get close to her. Unlike Tomomi-chan, who always had a place we could find her, Senda-chan doesn't have that,'<em> acknowledged Charmaine. _'Maybe some time tailing them would be the best thing, not only for the information, but also for organizing it. If they're alone, there will be something personal that they'll talk about together.' _Charmaine soon noticed Natsuki moving past her with her brother at her side before she looked to her hagoromo. _'Let's get a little bit ahead and pull on the hagoromo.'_

Maybe one of the few things that did not come to Charmaine's mind was the how far the Senda siblings' house was from the school. Noticing that twenty minutes had passed, Charmaine began wondering just how far the house was. Even worse, the two siblings were silent the whole walk at that point. _'I wonder if I'm being too direct about this,'_ contemplated the demon._ 'I mean, I can understand the reason why Naoto can't interact with Senda-san… But, there has to be something that I can do to help.'_

"I know that we tried to have this talk before," started Yuji, which snapped Charmaine out of her thinking, "but, I need to have some kind of answer, Natsuki. I need to know what I can do for you."

"Nothing, Onii-chan," Natsuki replied with a bright smile on her face. However, Charmaine could tell even from her distance that the smile was forced and it wasn't fooling Yuji either.

Yuji sighed as his blue irises drifted towards the ground. "But, there's something wrong…" he pressed, "I mean, do you seriously like Kyosuke that much to have a breakdown like this? I mean, us three have always been together…" Yuji took a moment to pause before continuing, "Everyone at school usually can't tell. But, I'm worried because I can tell. You haven't truly smiled for days now; you buy all those clothes and accessories-."

Although the words were going into Natsuki's ears, it seemed as if she tuned them out. From what Charmaine saw, her brother couldn't help her with the problem. For what reason, she had no idea. Maybe it was a problem of gender. Yuji was a guy; maybe her issues could only be dealt with another girl. "It would be nice," Natsuki spoke up suddenly, "if we could work things out with Kyosuke-kun before Sunday."

Yuji was surprised to hear Natsuki speak up for a moment, but once hearing her words, his mouth curved into a small frown. "Yeah, I would be nice if we could get it all done by then," he agreed with a discontent undertone.

As the two siblings proceeded into their house, Charmaine let out a small sigh. _'Looks like this is not going to be easy,'_ she brooded. With her hagoromo still on top of her, she proceeded to fly in the direction of Naoto's house.

* * *

><p>"I'm home," Charmaine announced as she proceeded to take off her shoes. The door to the living room slid open and the small head belonging to Taiki poked out of it.<p>

"Welcome back, Charma-chan," Taiki greeted. "Onii-chan and I are playing right now."

"Oh," cooed Charmaine. "What are you two playing?" She stepped into the room to see a bag of marshmallows on the table with Naoto fumbling with one in his hand. He glanced up, acknowledging Charmaine, before he proceeded to rip the marshmallow down the middle until there was only a small piece attaching the otherwise two halves. Taiki sat down on the other side of the table before Charmaine sat down herself.

Naoto began animating the marshmallow, the top and bottom halves began moving up and down respectively, to create the illusion that the marshmallow had a mouth. "I don't like that look on your face," Naoto declared with a lower-pitched voice. "I'm not just speaking for any reason; Smile a little bit, will you?" Taiki giggled and began smiling as Charmaine began giggling on her own.

"Nice acting," Charmaine complimented with a smug smirk on her face.

"Thanks, I try," Naoto replied, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Charmaine's face. The two were in the kitchen and Naoto was stirring something within a small pot.

"Hey, I used to do that too," Charmaine reassured him. "With my little sister… She's probably in school; maybe she's even close to graduating from the academy now." Naoto nodded in agreement as he took a spoonful of the broth out of his pot before he blew on it a couple of times. He then drank the broth before taking the nearby salt dispenser and a measuring spoon before he poured the salt into the measuring spoon and then dropped the salt into the broth. Naoto looked to Charmaine once again as he continued to stir. "So, it seems as if Senda-chan can't get over Kyosuke-san."

"Expected that," Naoto sounded off.

"And her brother seems to be more or less put off by it," Charmaine continued.

"Makes sense," Naoto reasoned. "Regardless of whether or not it was intentional, it seems as if Kyosuke's rejection of her feelings did hurt her. And he does seem to come off as the protective big brother. What about their prior relationship?"

"Her brother said that they were always together," Charmaine began, collecting her thoughts. "I would assume that they are childhood friends or something close to that." Naoto sipped some of the broth before he put the spoon down on a nearby counter and covered the top of the pot with the matching lid. "So, what should we do?"

"Let's run through what we know so far. We have three people: Senda-chan, her older brother, and their childhood friend turned love interest. The rift between the three of them all stem from the confession: Senda-chan is still hung over the childhood friend, her older brother is worried because now she's engaged in binge shopping, and the childhood friend has pretty much become a distant observer."

"Sounds like it," Charmaine explained.

"It sounds like the binge shopping is the turning point then," Naoto explained. "If we can at least figure out the reason why she's doing it, then maybe that is the gap."

"But, what if her gap is literally her feelings of being rejected by Kyosuke-san?" Charmaine asked.

"Cross the bridge when we reach it," Naoto deducted with closing his eyes. "I can't imagine how I could replace the feelings of a childhood friend or someone who has progressed to the level of being a crush after that." Naoto paused to think. "And the importance of Sunday?"

"It's her birthday, said so in her file."

Naoto let out a sigh. "So, that leaves us with three days- four if you count her birthday. Not like we need to get it done by then, but birthday events are always ones that you should look out for." He blinked a couple of times as he began to think. "Maybe I should play a little tonight..." He then looked back to Charmaine. "So, we have to be able to interact with her..."

"You can leave that to me." Charmaine crossed her arms just below her bosom.

* * *

><p><strong>Day 3<strong>

It was now lunchtime in Amekura Private High School and Class 1-B was the same as it always was. Everyone was huddled off into their own little corners and Naoto, once again, was looking out of the window. However, there was one distinct change and this one change could have had repercussions for the whole class. Charmaine stood up from her desk and moved from it towards Natsuki's desk. She was eating lunch quietly alone like Naoto and, noticing Charmaine near her desk, looked up at her. "Is there something wrong, Williams-san?" she asked.

"Would you like to eat lunch with me, Natsuki-chan?" Charmaine asked. "I want to talk to you about something. And Naoto-kun will be there as well."

"U-Um, sure," Natsuki replied cautiously. "The rooftop is fine, right?"

"Yes, it is," Charmaine replied with a nod.

* * *

><p>"<em>Now, I see…" Naoto nodded in agreement with her statement. "Our only chance-"<em>

"_-is through her newest obsession. And I have the tools to do everything," Charmaine explained. "It won't look as weird that the new foreign exchange student wants to eat lunch with anyone. Even better, I have already shown her that I know a little bit about fashion."_

"_So, get into her circle first and cater to her long enough to get her to lower her guard?" Naoto asked, waiting for confirmation from Charmaine._

"_Exactly. You're coming too, though."_

* * *

><p>The lunch between Charmaine, Naoto, and Natsuki began in silence. On one hand, Natsuki was wondering what exactly she could have done to bring her attention to Charmaine. On the other hand, Charmaine was wondering how she should strike at Natsuki. Naoto was simply feeling awkward because he was dragged into this situation without any real chance of communicating at all. After a couple of moments, Charmaine decided to speak up, "Thanks for eating lunch with us so suddenly. It's relatively hard to get into cliques at school, so I didn't know if I was stepping into anything I shouldn't have been."<p>

"It is fine," Natsuki replied with a small smile before glancing towards Naoto. "I'm happy that you wanted to eat lunch with me."

Charmaine looked over to Natsuki and gently smiled at her. "Well, I guess it's beneficial for all of us, then," she reasoned. "So, about what I wanted to talk to you about… I have a slight problem and I thought that you could help."

Natsuki blinked a couple of times. "What is the problem?" she asked.

"Well, I wanted to see your thoughts on the current fashion trends," Charmaine explained. "I mean, I know the basics about fashion, but Japanese fashion is just so different from where I came from… I thought that I could ask you about it because you're a regular at the store that we met in. Naoto-kun's kind of useless for these kinds of things."

Naoto let out a small sigh. "Like I would know about female fashion," he grumbled as he bit into a small sausage.

"O-Oh," escaped out of Natsuki's mouth. She was noticeably surprised. "I mean I could help a little bit… But, I don't know what I can do for you in particular."

"Well, I do know some stuff about accessories," Charmaine began, tapping her chin. "I might be thinking about getting an accessory other than this skull one." Charmaine pointed to the soul sensor resting on her on head. "But, I'm not sure as to what I could do… Maybe a red one would be good…"

"A red accessory?" Natsuki asked.

"To match our jackets," Charmaine explained, pointing to the red jacket that she was wearing that was customary for all students attending Amekura to have. "Especially when everyone is forced to wear the same clothes… The slightest changes could make a difference, y'know?"

"Y- Yeah," Natsuki agreed with a nod. "So, what are you thinking about makeup?"

Charmaine put on a small smile on her face before she thought, _'It's starting to work a little bit.'_ She then hummed to herself as she thought. "Maybe making some contours will help. It will make you look older," she thought out loud. Looking over to Natsuki, who seemed to have a small twinkle in her eye, Charmaine continued. "It will make your face look less round, I think…"

"Oh, of course," Natsuki agreed. "Making contours must be one of the tricks to fashion at our age."

"Yeah, it must." Charmaine then looked over to Naoto, who was content with just eating his lunch in peace. She nudged into Naoto before she looked at him. "So, how well do you think we'll look in makeup?"

"I think Natsuki will look fine, Char-chan," Naoto replied.

"I love to hear your opinion about me too, Nao-kun," Charmaine quickly jabbed. "You drew first blood," she defended.

'_Not like you hesitated, either.'_

"You two get along really well, don't you?" Natsuki asked tentatively. Naoto and Charmaine both turned to Natsuki. "I- I mean, you two seem to get along relatively well. At least you both don't hate each other…" Natsuki laughed nervously, something that both Naoto and Charmaine both picked up on.

"If I had to choose between liking her and hating her-" Naoto began.

"'I would have to choose being neutral,'" Charmaine interjected quickly. "Is what you were going to say, huh?" Naoto puts on a small smile as he slightly blushes and furtively glanced away from Charmaine. Charmaine could only sigh. "See how mean he is to me?" she asked Natsuki with a monotone as she pointed in Naoto's direction.

"Y- Yes?" Natsuki answered with caution. She couldn't make head or tails of Charmaine's tone. "But, this is how it was always like during summer or something like that… the same days of us three enjoying each other's company… Some days would be completely the same to those before it too. They were so much fun… But, now after that confession..." Natsuki seemed to break into her own small monologue before she became aware to Charmaine and Naoto once again. "O- Oh, just forget what I was saying, okay?"

The two simply nodded in agreement and continued on with finishing their food. But, the two would not forget that. The conversation quickly segued back into fashion and Naoto decided to keep his mouth shut for the rest of the time.

"I might try this out tomorrow," Natsuki mentioned.

"You should," Charmaine explained. "Just a few small things, but they can really make a large difference."

Looking to the time on his cell phone, Naoto stood up and gathered his now empty bento box into his hands. "It's almost time for us to leave," Naoto informed. Natsuki looked to her own phone before she started packing up, as well as Charmaine. "Thanks for lunch today," he said, looking to Natsuki, before he turned on his heel and proceeded downstairs. Natsuki stood in place, a little bit stunned with a small blush coming to her cheeks.

"Thanks from me too," Charmaine stated before proceeding downstairs as well. _'At least we're on the right track. Now we just have to see what she's going to do.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Day 4<strong>

If there was any kind of sign that there would be something interesting happening today, one would need to look no further than Naoto. His head was turning towards the door once every thirty seconds, his eyes were constantly surveying the room, and his right hand was tapping against his desk. As Daichi approached his desk, he looked at Naoto with a puzzled expression. "You okay there, man?" Daichi asked, "You look kind of… jittery."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naoto replied. _'Considering that I have to pay close attention to Senda-san today in particular or I'll lose my head.'_ Charmaine looked over to Naoto from her seat before she let out a small sigh and looked back towards the door. Unlike Naoto, Charmaine looked calm and collected.

"W- Well, okay then," Daichi carried on with the puzzled expression still on his face.

Meanwhile, Naoto looked towards the door once again as it slid open to reveal a female with long, blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Although the description fit what Natsuki Senda looked like, all Naoto and many others in Class 1-B could do was just let their jaws hang down. As per Charmaine's instruction, Natsuki applied blush to under her cheekbones and on top of her cheekbones, as well applied eyebrow pencil to her eyebrows and eyelashes to make them look darker and full. It did age her, Naoto would agree with that. But, it was up to the other people in the class to see how well Natsuki looked.

"S- Senda-chan?" Daichi exclaimed as Natsuki continued to walk towards her desk.

"Wow, she looks so pretty," one of the girls commented. Naoto put on a small smile as he listened to some of the students' comments. Naoto, however, knew that the real test was just beginning. It was really the responses during lunch that would decide if the new Natsuki was a big hit or not.

* * *

><p>And a big hit she was. So much so, that Naoto and Charmaine had difficulty keeping an eye on her expressions during lunch because so many people were huddled around her. All of a sudden, the Natsuki that everyone knew was gone and they were given a new and improved Natsuki in her place. But, it really surprised Naoto at how much people changed from just giving someone a face change. Instead of her being reserved, she suddenly became 'shy' and cute that way. Instead of her being short, it was changed to being 'petit' and it made her sound cuter. However, the words that they were using to describe Natsuki had barely changed meaning, but they sounded 'cuter' to fit her new appearance. Maybe it was not only Naoto who thought this, though, as he noticed that Natsuki, even amongst all of the people around her, couldn't muster a consistent smile.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Natsuki's POV<strong>

Today was a very exciting day at school. I got to go in with all of this makeup and everyone seemed to like me more. The girls wanted to talk to me more and I even got some guys interested. It was really fun. Anyways, I wanted to thank Fujimoto-kun and Williams-san for helping me with this whole makeover business. I would have done it during lunch, but I didn't have any time to do so. Some time, though, I would like to eat up here with them again. That was a lot of fun and I barely get any time to eat with Onii-chan anymore.

I hear the door to the rooftop open and I glance over to only see Fujimoto-kun standing there. Maybe because I showed a face of disappointment or maybe he felt obligated to tell me, but he let me know that Williams-san wasn't coming because she had an appointment. "Oh well," I replied, "I'll just tell her tomorrow." I approach Fujimoto-kun and with the best smile I could muster, I continued, "I wanted to tell you that I'm grateful for what you did for me."

"But, you didn't seem to be happy about it," Fujimoto-kun replies.

"What?" I impulsively ask. I definitely enjoyed myself today. It was relatively difficult to have everyone around me, but everyone seemed to notice me more. "I was definitely having fun today, Fujimoto-kun," I assert.

"Then why aren't you as happier right now?" Fujimoto-kun asks, staring straight at my face.

"What do you mean?" I ask back.

"Was there something wrong?" he interrogates further. My mouth hangs open and my voice got caught in my throat. That is enough for him to feel confident in his conviction. "There was, wasn't there?"

My eyes drift towards the ground out of embarrassment. But, I don't know the reason why. "I- I," I manage to get out, but I know that it won't be a good enough answer for him. He doesn't speak up, maybe because he wants me to sort out my own thoughts. "I don't really know right now."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks. That was surprising, so much so that my eyes quickly shoot up to look at his. The gold in his eyes are focused directly on me and, for whatever reason, makes me lose my breath for a moment. "I'm here for you. I'm here to help you." All I could do was just try to calm my own heartbeat from going out of control. But, why is it reacting this way to him? Regardless, though, I need to regain my footing.

"I'm fine," I answer, but my eyes begin to tear up a little bit. That's not what I want to happen! I wanted it to be more convincing! I can hear Fujimoto-kun's footsteps approach me as I try to calm myself down. I'm waiting for something bad to come out of his mouth. However, instead, he handed a small tissue to me.

"Sorry, Senda-san."

Huh? Before I could respond, he is already walking away. As I use the tissue to dry the tears coming down my face, I began to wonder why I reacted that way… even worse, why I expected such a horrid response from Fujimoto-kun. "I really did enjoy today." I feel guilty, and the only real thing that I can do right now is just try to explain myself. Fujimoto-kun stops in his tracks and looks back at me. No words come out of his mouth and he maintains a blank expression. He's waiting for me to explain myself if I have the conviction to do so. "I wanted this."

"You did?" Fujimoto-kun gently inquired, wanting me to affirm that was what I meant.

And I nod. "You see, I have a childhood friend, Kyosuke Kurada. He's on the soccer team, too; plays forward. Not as good as my brother, though, so he plays on the second line." I look to see that Fujimoto-kun is still staring at me attentively with those big golden saucers for eyes that he has. "He's nice, intelligent… As you probably can tell, I've had a crush on him for some time. And I confessed to him and I got rejected.

"But, that wasn't even the worst part. Now my brother and Kyosuke-kun are at odds with one another. I keep hoping that things will become normal again, but they just don't. They really just don't and I- I try to do something but it just doesn't work out." I begin to tear up again and my nose begins to get stuffy. My heart starts to sink and it feels as if every heartbeat begins to pain. "And now, I just wish that everything went back to the way they were before." I sniffle.

"So, when I dressed up today, I felt happy."

But also shallow.

"I felt as if I got recognized by a lot of people."

But not the two I wanted to recognize me.

"I wanted to thank you and Williams-san for that."

Because it's courteous to do.

"I feel really happy."

But there's also a hole in my heart.

"It made me forget about it for a little while."

It won't go away though.

"And it'll be on my mind for a little bit-"

As it should. I caused it.

"But at least you and Williams-san are here."

But you're not who I really want.

At this point in time, I must be looking like a sobbing mess. Even though I was saying all those words, I could feel the tears streaming down my face. I had just tried to convince him of my words, but all I did was just end up making a larger mess than before. I can't take it. I should just leave. My feet had already begun walking before my mind had the chance to tell them to do so and they were carrying me towards the door.

But, he reaches out. Fujimoto-kun grabs my wrist and keeps me away from my one exit for the time being. I was going to run out on him, yes, but it was fairer that way. He is not going to sugar coat this for me. He doesn't come off as that kind of person. However, instead, he let go of me, possibly at a loss for what he could say. I take my chance and with a brisk 'bye,' I'm off, leaving Fujimoto-kun behind.

* * *

><p>"So, it sounds like it isn't the confession after all," Naoto confirmed with a small sigh. "But, she was bouncing around the whole place, so I can't define much of anything. There's only one real thing I can do…"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Day 5<strong>

The next day was a relatively quiet one. Natsuki had decided to come without any kind of makeup and the commotion in the class the day before was almost deflated. Natsuki, herself, spent most of the day staring down at her desk and writing notes. Naoto, on the other hand, could not help but feel his stomach churn as he began to scribble down something on his notebook. Ripping the page out and folding it up, he passed it to Charmaine, who began to pass it along the classroom. The note eventually was dropped on Natsuki's desk, with only the words 'To: Natsuki' written on it. She blinked a couple of times, hesitated, and then proceeded to open the note with caution.

* * *

><p><em>From Fujimoto to Senda,<em>

_Could you please eat lunch with me on the rooftop today? I would like to talk to you about something. It's fine if you don't want to come. You don't have to answer me, either. Just come if you want to._

* * *

><p>All Natsuki could do was stare at the letter for a few moments before looking in the direction of Naoto, who was looking straight at her as she did so. Both of them, startled, looked away from the other. For Naoto, it was mostly the embarrassment of actually giving a female a message like that. Even though he had no intentions of courting her (well, beyond what he was supposed to), it was not something that he was used to. He thought about it; it was a while ever since he took the initiative and actually asked someone to eat lunch with him. On the other hand, Natsuki was simply surprised to receive such a letter. But, she was also wondering if their meeting was only going to be a continuation of the conversation from the day before.<p>

Time passed a little too quickly for Natsuki's taste and lunch began. Naoto had gotten up from his seat and headed out of the classroom in the crowd of people that left Class 1-B without a word or even a glance in Natsuki's direction. _'I did want to eat lunch on the roof with them again…'_ reasoned Natsuki. She looked in the direction of Charmaine's desk to see that even she had left as well. _'And I did want to thank her for all her help.'_ Natsuki proceeded to stand up from her seat and, taking her bento in hand, began her trek up to the roof.

Once she got up there, she saw the same black-haired male looking up towards the sky. The creaking door alerted Naoto to Natsuki's presence. He looked to the door and greeted Natsuki with a small smile. Natsuki could feel the blood rush to her cheeks as she took a few steps forward. "Didn't you have something to talk to me about?" Natsuki asked her male companion.

"I guess," Naoto admitted before looking in Natsuki's eyes. "I did just want to eat lunch with you too, though." Natsuki's eyes widened before a large blush appeared on her face. "I'm sorry for misleading you like that. I guess I just don't have the confidence."

"N- No!" Natsuki hastily stuttered. "I- I mean, you don't need to be so secretive about it…" She tapped her fingers together as the blush on her face remained. "S- So, anyways," she stuttered, "I like eating up here. It's so quiet… It's my favorite eating spot." The most ironic thing about this statement is that both of them are standing up with their bento boxes at the side. Apparently, their conversation was now more interesting than eating.

"Yeah this is true," Naoto agreed heartily. "It's better than in the classroom. We should eat up here all the time."

"We?" Natsuki asked.

"Was that bad of me to suggest?" Naoto asked, grabbing in bento and sitting down on the tiles. Natsuki did the same soon afterwards.

Natsuki quickly shook her head. "N-No." She paused for a moment before deciding to get back on topic. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize again for yesterday. I made you cry with my stupid questions."

'_So that was on his mind,'_ Natsuki reasoned before she smiled at Naoto. "No problem. I know that you wanted to help me still." Natsuki turned her head and her gaze towards the sky above her.

"I still do," Naoto corrected her. "I thought you might want to know…" Naoto began, "we, Charmaine and I, saw what happened the day before last with your brother and Kurada-san." Natsuki was in a state of sudden shock. She did not wonder if the events they were talking about were the same or even how they came across their confrontation. It created a slight pang on guilt in Naoto's heart, considering that they did practically stalk her to gain this information. "We didn't hear too much, your brother was loud enough though. That's why I was a little worried."

Naoto wondered if either he should push further, but after seeing her stunned expression, he couldn't help but tense up. It sounded as if even mentioning it was taxing to her emotionally. _'She's a very fragile girl, Senda-chan.'_ He then turned to his food silently. The conversation itself was dead on the spot for the time being. The silence remained for a few minutes and looking at his nearly-empty bento box, Naoto sighed. He had to say something, even if it was basic. "Kurada-san sounds like a really nice person. He sounds like someone you really like." A small blush came across Natsuki's face, as her attention turned to Naoto. Her mouth opened for the sake of voicing something, but her voice seemed to get caught in her mouth. "Am I wrong?"

"N- No. It's always been my brother, Kyosuke-kun, and me. Just us three. I never really had any other friends."

Although the conversation went relatively smoothly, Naoto was still troubled. What exactly was Natsuki's gap? Originally, he thought it was just as straight forward as wanting to change herself… But, she seemed to be against changing herself the day before. He had to tread carefully… If he didn't then he could end up opening the gap even more. _'I'll have to work all this out with Charmaine afterschool…'_ he resolved.

"I really feel guilty… For having those feelings," Natsuki rambled on.

"I understand that you do but-," Naoto began before he paused to think for a moment. _'Guilty? Why does she feel guilty?'_ Naoto looked to Natsuki as she looked back to him. He did stop mid-sentence. "B- But, it's lunchtime now. We should finish eating before classes start once again. And… maybe that hole in your heart will go away with some good food."

Natsuki's eyes widened. _'A hole in my heart?'_ That was the same analogy that she used. She began to wonder: did Naoto have the tools necessary for him to understand her problem? Should she ask him for advice? No, she shouldn't. Honestly, she wouldn't even know where she would start as to where her problems are. That is a fundamental problem and one that she would have to figure out on her own. She couldn't just drag Naoto into this kind of situation. She had to deal with it on her own; she's the one who caused it in the first place.

* * *

><p>The end of the school day had come and left. Within Class 1-B, all that was left was the distant shouting of the sports teams using the field from the window and Naoto and Charmaine within the classroom. A small breeze blew into the classroom as the two stared across the room to each other, Naoto situated near the blackboard and Charmaine situated near her desk at the front. Personally, Naoto was simply happy that the conversation was in an actual classroom instead of the stuffed janitor's closet. But, more pressing matters needed to be discussed, especially considering that they were having problems figuring out Natsuki's problem.<p>

"I think that we need to go over everything that we've had to this point," Naoto suggested. "There's a lot of parts to this and some of the revelations are simply unrelated to the case at hand."

"I get it."

Naoto took a piece of chalk from the blackboard and drew a circle. He wrote inside the word 'Natsuki' before he pointed at it. "So, what do we know about Natsuki so far?"

"She's childhood friends with Kurada-san," Charmaine began. As she began talking, Naoto continued to draw on the board, drawing yet another circle before labeling the inside of it Kyosuke Kurada and drawing a line from said circle to the previously drawn one. On the side of the line, Naoto scribbled down the phrase 'childhood friend.' "And it seems as if she is infatuated with him as well." Naoto then proceeded to write on the other side of the line 'love interest.' "We can only imagine, though, that she tried confessing to him and she was rejected and that she engaged in binge shopping as a result."

"Stop there," Naoto interrupted her. "That's the conclusion that her brother made. I'm not entirely sure that it's the full story, personally."

"Why?" Charmaine asked.

"No reason, really," Naoto shrugged his shoulders. "But, we didn't observe that particular change. All we can do is just write what we know to this point and not create any kind of correlation until afterwards."

Charmaine nodded in agreement before continuing, "So, there was a confession involved at some point." Naoto drew the word 'confession' on the board. "And she is now engaging in binge shopping. Her brother," Naoto drew another circle and labeled it 'Yuji Senda' before drawing a line to Natsuki's circle and labeling the line as 'older brother.' "-is not in favor of this, obviously."

"But, he is paying off the tab instead of returning all of the clothes," Naoto noted.

"Yes. And her parents seem aware of it as well." Charmaine crossed her arms. "She does seem to have a very supportive family…" Naoto looked over to Charmaine before Charmaine shook her head and tried to refocus on the task at hand. "And also, her brother seems to have a strained relationship with Kurada-san now."

Naoto then put down the piece of chalk once he finished scribbling and took a few steps back from the board. "Now, if we assess this, what does it look like?" Naoto wondered aloud.

"The rejected confession caused her gap," Charmaine replied. "And she's binge shopping in order to deal with it. It sounded as if she was rejected by being told she was a 'little sister.'" Naoto remembered to the words that Yuji mentioned to Kyosuke when Charmaine mentioned that. "So, maybe buying the clothes was also a step forward to her. To get the guy she wants, become more of an older woman.

"But if that was true," Charmaine continued, "then why was she not happy about looking older? She seemed to be against it… Like regardless of whether or not she encountered her crush, it wouldn't have mattered… Maybe the binge shopping is just simply her way to cope with the larger issue- not related to the larger issue at all."

"Why do you say that? It sounded like her older brother had never seen her exhibit this habit before."

"That's the point. Us women will use binge shopping to solve many of our problems," Charmaine explained. "The fact that you and Yuji don't understand that only means that you two are not well-versed when it comes to women." Naoto rolled his eyes as he sighed. "At least not in this sense."

"Maybe…" Naoto wondered aloud before he walked up to the chalkboard and began crossing things out that they had just talked about. Once he had done so, his eyes widened and the chalk dropped out of his hands. "That… Maybe be it." Ignoring the small piece of chalk laying at his feet, he looked in the direction of Charmaine.

Charmaine could only blink a couple of times before asking, "Eureka, Nao-kun?"

"Yes, Char-chan, it is." Naoto's brow furrowed as he crossed his arms. "I have the answer and the birthday event is tomorrow! We should get working!"

* * *

><p><strong>Post-Author Notes: <strong>Oooh! My first cliffhanger! I originally thought that this was going to be done in one chapter (well, one and a half) but when I projected the actual chapter to come out to be longer than ten-thousand words, I cut it in half. Anyways, please read and review! I like the amount of reviews I've gotten to this point, but I always can use more opinions!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter! First I came out with a first draft of it, then I completely scrapped it in the hopes of getting to Natsuki's character more… Then I was busy with school and I had no time to write during the weekend. So, all of this was done based on the notes I had taken during the week, but it just so turned out that more of it was done on Monday than I had originally intended. Anyways, this is the ending to the Natsuki storyline arc. I love how everyone's reacting to her because I worried about her characterization through the whole process. So, to the reviews:

**TheNewGenOtaku:** Well, Natsuki mostly writes herself and it's a blessing and a curse at the exact same time. When the muse is working, Natsuki, Naoto, and Charmaine interactions flowed easily. I also thought that giving her a social circle (no matter how small it was) was useful in anchoring the character. I noticed with Tomomi that because I was introducing all new characters, it was hard for me to balance them. Even worse, Naoto didn't really have anyone to bounce off of except for Charmaine and Tomomi only had Naoto to bounce off of. I thought that putting in some other relationships with Natsuki would give everyone a better grasp of her character. (Tomomi's going to get the chance to do that in her omake for sure). Oh, sorry for rambling. Thank you for reviewing.

**Wolf's Honor:** If I'm getting you to like all three characters, then that is good. :-) And that was particularly what I wanted to do with Natsuki. I wanted her to remind people of a younger sibling of their own in one way or another. They always say that the best characters are the most relatable. Hopefully, you like this chapter.

**48691412:** Charmaine's reliable, at least. But, it's really because of the role that she plays in the story. She works much closer with Naoto because he doesn't have the experience that Keima does at capturing girls. But, Charmaine's happy that you think that she's smart.

Anyways, read and review! And, disclaimer: I do not own TWGOK. I don't even know what I'd do with it if I did, honestly.

* * *

><p><strong>Flag 4.0: <strong>_The First Step_

**Day 5 (cont.)**

Although Naoto understood the situation better then in comparison to just a few hours prior, there was still work for him to do.

It was a Saturday afternoon. Many people had already left school; they had better places to be than just stick around school. However, Naoto did not. The best he could do for himself was to stand at the opened metal gates to the school. On the contrary, it was the best thing that he could do for himself.

The reconnaissance was finished but the chase was only beginning.

It was obvious what he needed to do. He needed to create some kind of strong impression outside of what he had already done. There was no point to an event's time period if the player could not get close enough to the girl to initiate it. Although it was not Naoto's full problem, it was the best comparison he could do for this situation. What he needed to do was to figure out a way to contact her on that day. A simple invitation to a birthday party would be easier; there would be more people, thus it would be easier to orchestrate interaction then. There would be other options floating around, but the more solutions he thought up of, the more intruding that he would have to be.

'_Asking for her phone number… Asking for time together tomorrow…'_ Naoto named off in his head with a concerned look on his face. It was not only the larger possibility that Natsuki would say no, it was also the fact that he would have to say it while her brother is with her. He might not even get a chance to hear Natsuki's response; her brother might answer for her instead. Naoto was sure of that. He heard a small whistle- a sign from Charmaine that the target was approaching. He cast a glance towards the front of the school to see the two Senda siblings walking in his direction.

To Naoto's left stood the tall, short blonde-haired third-year male named Yuji. The older brother in both appearance and actuality, the one thing that stood out about him was the body that lied under the Amekura uniform. Even though it barely made a difference under it, one would notice how tightly the standard uniform fit on him. Soccer had done well for his body at least. With his brisk strides, his head and eyes almost always focused on the road in front of him, and his walking posture of his right hand in pocket while his left hand swung with his stride, he protruded an air of confidence. It was an aura that Naoto had seldom seen and one that made approaching him a chore at times. He was presently engaged in a minute conversation with the girl next to him.

Natsuki's long, straight hair was of the same shade of his and reached down to her waist. Unlike the male beside her, her eyes would look up at the older male as he spoke to her, before her eyes returned to the road in front of her. It was her who recognized him first; Naoto expected that. She put on a small smile before she greeted him, "Hey, Fujimoto-kun. Waiting for Williams-san?"

Naoto rubbed the back of his head, only making his messy hair look even more disorganized. "Yeah," he replied bashfully. "She's busy with something; she didn't tell me what it was."

"Oh, I see," Natsuki nodded in agreement. Although her curiosity seemed to the quenched for the time being, her older brother continued looking at Naoto with furrowed eyebrows and a strange glint in his eye that Naoto could not attribute to being one particular thing. Said eyes soon drifted away from him as Yuji passed by Naoto, Natsuki trailing behind him ever so slightly. However, Naoto's attention was not on what he was seeing, but more of what he was hearing. He could hear a growing, rhythmic pitter-patter approaching in his direction. He glanced to see Charmaine approaching him, right on time.

"Ah, isn't that Senda-chan?" Charmaine spoke up as she approached them. Natsuki stopped in her tracks to look to Charmaine and her brother, almost as if he was attached to her, halted as well. As Charmaine approached, she looked over to Naoto before apologizing, "Sorry for being late." Naoto simply nodded in acknowledgement; he didn't look too angry about it. Charmaine's eyes then drifted to Natsuki. "I haven't seen you for a couple of days. I'm sorry I couldn't come up onto the roof yesterday; you wanted to tell me something, I know."

"Y- Yeah," Natsuki affirmed. "I just wanted to thank you for the help with all of the fashion tips… It was really a success, the whole thing was." Natsuki nodded, almost as if she was trying to convince herself of what she was speaking at the same time. She then cast a glance to Yuji, who was patiently waiting a few feet behind the trio, before looking back to Naoto and Charmaine. "Anyways, we should get going."

Naoto bit his lower lip. If they left, then it would be difficult to get a means to meet with Natsuki. As the girl spun on her heel, an action that to Naoto looked in slow motion, Naoto tried to gather the courage to say something to her. His mouth opened, enough to mutter, "It's your birthday tomorrow, right?" Natsuki looked in the direction of Naoto, making Naoto think that she heard what he said. But, a moment passed and Natsuki's mouth didn't move to respond; instead, her head cocked to the right in curious fashion. So, Naoto repeated, this time louder," It's you birthday tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." Natsuki ran her hand through her hair. "I'm not doing that much, though for it."

"I will buy something for you," Naoto declared, removing all chance of Natsuki to deny him, "Have a happy birthday, though, if I don't see you tomorrow."

"Would you like to come over our house tomorrow?" Yuji suddenly asked, alerting Naoto and Charmaine. Natsuki was quick to turn to her older brother, who promptly explained himself, "We usually do a small get-together, but the plans fell through." Naoto could notice Natsuki's eyes drift towards the ground. "But, we should at least head out and do something. So, why not just reorganize it?" Naoto looked in the direction of Natsuki, whose eyes are still focused on the ground. He could imagine that if the girl wanted to, she would let the ground swallow her. Naoto then looked to Yuji before he posed the question, "Do you want to come? We'll probably meet around eleven."

"Sure," Naoto agreed a little bit too eagerly for his taste; Yuji didn't notice it, though.

"Cool," Yuji replied, a small smile on his face. He then motioned to Natsuki to come in his direction. "Let's head home, Natsuki." Natsuki just wordlessly nodded. Her cerulean eyes, however, did not stop gazing at the dusty dirt beneath her feet. "See you." Yuji flicked his hand, a hasted and chaste farewell if there ever was one. Natsuki turned her head to Naoto and Charmaine and waved to them with a smile on her face before she turned back around and jogged to catch up to her older sibling.

'_That was not what I was expecting,'_ Naoto mused with a slight incredulous look on his face. He began to contemplate, however, what this could mean before he looked to Charmaine. "Should we head home too?" he suggested, still a little bit surprised.

"Yep," Charmaine agreed, nodding her head. "I'll try to make something with the raiment for tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Natsuki, on the other hand, was trying to gather the confidence to say something to her older brother. <em>'We both know that we usually don't have anyone over during that day other than Kyosuke-kun,'<em> Natsuki rambled on in the back of her head. _'Then again, getting him to come tomorrow sounds unrealistic considering the situation…'_

"Kind of sudden, isn't it?" Yuji asked, snapping Natsuki out of her daze to notice her older brother looking at her, focused on the expression on her face. She was showing her doubts on her face; she was sure of that. "But," Yuji stretched out his back with a small sigh exhuming from his mouth, "it shouldn't be too bad. Mixing things up is nice every once in a while." Natsuki's gaze went towards the ground in an attempt to mask her emotions from her older brother. "Besides, you seem to get along well with them. It won't be anything special; we'll just go out to Wagmaria and eat some lunch. It's starting to get hot too, so maybe we can get some ice cream afterwards, too…"

As her brother continued to ramble on, Natsuki's gaze continued to focus on the ground in front of her. Eventually, the sounds began to tune out and the only thing of importance to Natsuki was the conversation in the back of her head. _'Still, though… I want it to be the same as it's always been.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Day 6<strong>

"_And there will be rain later on in the day and will continue until nightfall. For all families heading out, please execute caution on the roads…"_

Natsuki could hear the television from her own room, as her groggy self stirred. The approach of summer meant earlier sunrises and as Natsuki rolled in her bed, covering her eyes from the sunlight that was peeking in through the blinds of her window and bouncing off of her white walls. All she could do was curse the light. It was Sunday; it was a day off. So, why did she have to get up early that day?

Well, there was one.

_Beep beep beep_

Natsuki's head could only lift a little bit off of the pillow as her eyes peered open. Her attention is turned to the nightstand near her bed to see a digital clock resting on top of it. She heaved a sigh before her head hit the pillow. The sound was emitting from the digital clock and it was annoying Natsuki. She inched towards the nightstand before she raised her arm up in the air. She brought down the arm and it hit the nightstand with a thud. _'Missed,'_ she sighed once again. She began to move her fingers towards the digital clock, the fingers inching towards the device as if they were walking on their own. Running into the base of the clock, she raised her arm up once again and hit the snooze button. The sound was now gone, but she knew full well that she needed to rise for the day.

Natsuki's arm fell off of the nightstand and was now dangling off of the side of the bed. _'I should try to get up…'_ She slithered over to the side of the bed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she eyed herself in the mirror across the room from her. Her usual straight blonde hair was sticking up in multiple directions. Her blue irises could barely be seen with her eyelids squinted close together. Natsuki rubbed her eyes before she let out a yawn. Her head was beginning to ache and Natsuki could notice bags under her eyes as she looked to the clock once again.

'_Four hours of sleep…'_ Natsuki sighed. _'And I have to go out for the small gathering in three hours too. I have barely any time left to sleep…'_ Natsuki yawned once again, covering her mouth out of courtesy. As the young lady began to stroll around the room in her sky blue slippers, her eyes travelled the well-kept room before her eyes rested on the chair to her desk. _'At least I made the effort to pick them out…'_ Draped over the back of the chair was a set of clothing. Natsuki looked to the clothing absentmindedly for a few moments.

_Knock._ Someone was knocking at her door.

"Natsuki! Are you awake?" The voice belonged to her older brother. The voice snapped Natsuki out of her daze and her eyes quickly turned towards the door. "Mom has breakfast ready; it's a huge birthday breakfast."

Natsuki easily managed a smile. _'Same as every year,'_ she mused. "I'll be down once I finish fixing myself up." Natsuki could hear no verbal response from Yuji, but was at least able to hear his footsteps leaving the area in front of the door. With one more glance to the clock, Natsuki proceeded to head out of her room and towards the bathroom. _'Today is my birthday, after all. I should be in better spirits!'_

"_The anime, PenguinMarch, will have the voicing talents of Kanon Nakagawa, and today we have Kanon-chan here to talk about her experiences! So, Kanon-chan, about working with other idols on this like Airi-chan-."_

"Kanon Nakagawa…" muttered Charmaine. "I've been hearing a lot about her."

About ten minutes away from the Senda household was the Fujimoto household. The three youngest members of the house, namely Naoto, Charmaine, and Taiki were in the living room, their breakfast resting in front of them. Naoto was sporting a gray, sleeveless t-shirt that loosely fit his person and a pair of dark blue shorts. His hair was the same mess as it always was and his eyes were not as focused on the screen at the pink-haired idol known as Kanon Nakagawa as his two contemporaries. All three of them were still in their sleepwear.

"She is a top idol after all," Naoto commented before he took another bite into his food. He looked in the direction of Charmaine, as she rustled slightly to readjust herself so she could see the television. Her head tilted to the side like a bird as she continued to watch the television. _'Well, she's probably never had something like that… What would a Hell idol be anyways?'_ His attention is turned towards the television to see his younger brother situated right in front of it. "Don't sit so close, Taiki."

"Yes, Onii-chan," Taiki replied before he shuffled away from the television slightly. "PenguinMarch is coming out soon; it's supposed to come out on Tuesday afternoons. Could I watch it?"

"Depends," Naoto swallowed his food. "Remember your homework."

"You'd make a real good mother, Naoto-kun," Charmaine slyly smirked with a just as sly laugh came out of her mouth.

"And you're turning into quite the snarky commenter, _Charma-chan_," Naoto replied; his voice was stuffed with sarcasm. "Anyways, Tai, we're going out later today, so Mom will watch after you."

"Okay," Taiki sung as he continued to look at the television. It had now transitioned from talking about Kanon to the anime that she was to provide her voice in. Naoto raised his eyebrow as he looked at it, even more at Charmaine's response to it.

"Those poor penguins; they look so cute, too," Charmaine sighed. "Why do people have to abuse them?"

"Well, one of them was kind of looking up girls' skirts…" Naoto deadpanned.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours passed and Naoto and Charmaine were just outside of the gate to the house. Naoto scratched his head once again as he looked to his own clothing. He was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt that was still warm from the ironing that was done on it. His light blue jeans looked as if it had been unsuccessfully bleached and had many signs of wear and tear on it. Finally, his white sneakers had scuff marks all over it. In his right hand, he lightly gripped an umbrella- and for good reason, as the sky was beginning to gray. Overall, his clothes looked like regular wear. Maybe it was too regular, actually. "You ready?" he asked, looking in the direction of his demonic partner.<p>

Charmaine wore a light blue, sleeveless shirt with dark blue shorts that reached down to the halfway mark on her thighs. They clung tightly to her, so much so that Naoto almost jokingly wondered if they were attached to her. Her usual shoes for school was replaced with a pair of white sandals that had a sunflower resting on the strap that kept her feet in and separated her bigger toe from all the rest of her toes. The only consistency that there was between her usual wear and what she was wearing then was the soul sensor that remained resting on her head, same spot as it always was. "As ready as possible," she responded with confidence.

The walk to the Senda household was one of strategizing. The duo had gone through most of what they needed to do, but they both also realized that their chances of succeeding were based on the reactions on the part of the others as well. There was no real planning that they could do to completely change Natsuki. But, they were confident. They had put in all of the effort that they could in trying to capture her.

"Alright, then. I'll try to bank on that," Naoto reasoned. Charmaine simply nodded.

Being only a short distance away from the house, they noticed a figure standing in front of the house. As they approached it, the picture began to get clearer still, as they saw the raven hair, slicked back and the tall, imposing figure that only reminded Naoto of two people: one was Yuji. However, the other was…

"Kurada-senpai?" Naoto asked as he and Charmaine approached him. _'Just as I thought. Their relationship is so close; there's no way he wouldn't at least make an effort to reach out to them during Natsuki's birthday.'_

Kyosuke turned to focus his gaze on Naoto and Charmaine. He blinked a couple of times, and sadly enough, Naoto could almost guess why. "And you two are?" he asked.

"Naoto Fujimoto," Naoto chastely greeted. "I'm part of the soccer team."

"Charmaine Williams," Charmaine followed. "I'm his foreign exchange student."

Kyosuke nodded once slowly, as he looked to the door once again to the house. Naoto could tell; he was in between knocking the door and leaving. He gathered his spit, contemplated knocking on the door, before casting his eyes down. So preoccupied in his own thoughts, he didn't even bother to ask the reason why Naoto and Charmaine were even there. Naoto knew that he had to do something, not only for the sake of the trio, but also for the sake of his conquest. Having Kyosuke be there and be recognized by Yuji or Natsuki was a bad move; it would lessen the impact of his event and have Kyosuke take primary focus.

"So, what are you doing here? Are you here for Senda-chan's party?" Naoto asked.

Kyosuke snapped out of his thinking before he looked in the direction of Naoto and Charmaine. "Are you two here for the gathering, too?" he asked, an incredulous expression put on his face.

"Oh, I see…" Kyosuke's mood had noticeably worsened. "So, Yuji invited you two to come… Natsuki doesn't have many friends. So, I was surprised to see you two here."

"I heard everything from Natsuki, actually," Naoto informed him. "I think that she really wants to see you." Naoto looked in the direction of Charmaine, who wordlessly nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Kyosuke sighed. "Honestly, I didn't think it would have turned out this bad… We grew up together, but I never noticed her feelings. So, I was in shock, really, when she confessed to me. In my head, I drummed up multiple reasons as to why this wouldn't work out… But, at the end of the day, I said what I said. My word choice was terrible and I ended up hurting Natsuki as a result. I came over here, only because I wasn't even sure if they were going out today, but I can't even muster up the confidence to knock on the door…"

"At the end of the day, though," Charmaine began; Kyosuke's eyes automatically drifted to her, "she wants to see you. How she wants to 'see' you… You can probably guess it better than I can. But, she wants to see you."

Kyosuke's eyes drifted towards the ground as Naoto sighed. "Anyways," he began, "you shouldn't be here if you're not ready. Natsuki will wait until you are, though. She's that kind of girl." Kyosuke put on a small smile before he nodded in agreement. In the back of his head, he was probably thinking about how Naoto would know so much about his childhood friend. But, whatever questions he had he kept to himself before he proceeded off of the property. _'Now, the only real thing that I can do now is just hope that this will work out…'_ Once Kyosuke was out of sight, Naoto and Charmaine knocked on the door to the house.

The person who answered the door was Natsuki, dressed in a yellow, short-sleeved shirt and white shorts that went down to her knees. She wore three beaded bracelets around her right arm, two bands of pink and one band of yellow in the middle of them to be precise. She was walking barefoot, but Naoto could notice a pair of white sandals dangled out of her right hand. Behind her was her older brother, Yuji, who was dressed in a red shirt with the word 'champ' written in big, bold yellow letters. He also was wearing a pair of white shorts, similar to soccer shorts, and black sneakers.

"Right on time," acknowledged Yuji. He looked back into the house as Natsuki proceeded to put on her sandals. "We're heading out, Okaa-san, Otou-san!"

"Bye, Okaa-san! Otou-san!" Natsuki followed.

* * *

><p>Wagmaria was a standard family diner. It was relatively loud, considering that it was lunchtime on a Sunday. Many little children were running around, which made the four high school students feel relatively out of place. Yuji looked to Natsuki, who was sitting on the inside of the booth, and laughed nervously, "Well, the last time that your birthday landed on a Sunday, you were only turning ten. That was six years ago…"<p>

"This place probably looked cooler all that time ago," Charmaine assumed, trying to drum up some conversation with Natsuki. However, the female doesn't bite and Charmaine is left feeling as if she was simply ignored. Charmaine looked in the direction of Naoto, who was on the inside with Natsuki, and nudged him. Naoto could only sigh before he looked in the direction of Natsuki, who paid no attention to him and instead looked out the window. But, Naoto realized something: at the table was a person who didn't know much about life in the human world (Charmaine), a person who is mostly excommunicated from it (Naoto), and someone who will just keep her mouth shut if she needed to (Natsuki). There was possibly no real chance at any kind of real conversation getting done during that time. Naoto sighed, realizing that his goal was a tough one still.

Naoto is able to see Natsuki's eyes widen as a male comes within her sights. Naoto then looked himself before he sighed. It was Kyosuke, someone that he was expecting to come, but his appearance then was relatively surprising. _'Well, he sure gained confidence fast! I have the worst feeling that he just ended up following us,'_ Naoto thought, goose bumps beginning to appear on his arms. Kyosuke caught sight of Naoto and Natsuki before he moved into Wagmaria and, luckily for them, Yuji didn't notice him until he arrived at the table.

"I'm not too late," Kyosuke sighed. Yuji's eyes snapped to him before he sighed himself. Although it was only noticeable for a moment, Naoto could see a small smile appear on Yuji's face.

"I'm surprised that you had the confidence to come out here," intimidated Yuji. He glared in the direction of Kyosuke. "I actually wondered if you were just going to let the day go by without doing anything."

"Good point," Kyosuke replied. "Because you usually act like this, Yu-kun, I was not sure how I should approach you two."

"'Because **I** always act like th-?"

"Please, no more fighting," Natsuki spoke up, tapping the table. It was small, almost as whimper, but her older brother and Kyosuke looked at her, slightly surprised. Natsuki's hand began to slip off of the table, almost as if it was an indicator of her ever-slipping confidence.

"You should sit. It's an important day, after all," Naoto assured Kyosuke. Natsuki looked to Naoto as a small smile came across her face, as well as Kyosuke's. Yuji turned his head towards the window and Naoto moved his body closer to the window as Charmaine moved over as well to give Kyosuke room to sit.

However, Naoto soon realized that even getting Kyosuke to sit down only gave more tension to the table. Now, he and Charmaine were almost inclined to stay silent because they were the outsiders. Natsuki was more or less bound to stay quiet to give Yuji and Kyosuke room to talk. Finally, Yuji and Kyosuke were busy talking to each other through their gestures instead of their mouths.

As a girl with pink hair walked up to the group, she put on the brightest smile on her face. If anything, Naoto had the slightest feeling as if he had seen her before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. She wore a white dress shirt with a short, black skirt. Over it, she wore a plain white apron. Her pink hair was tied up with a band, possibly so it did not get in the way while she worked. Her green eyes were the first thing that attracted their attention, as it reflected the energy that the girl had. "Welcome," she greeted, "is there anything that you want to start off for today? Like a drink?" She closed her eyes, tilted her head over a little bit to her right and put on a wider smile.

"Water," Naoto replied bluntly.

"Make that two," Charmaine replied almost as quickly, only so she would not be stuck with something that she didn't know.

"I'll take a Mist," Yuji nodded.

"Me too," Natsuki agreed.

The table then turned to Kyosuke, who was at least slightly surprised to notice all of the gazes on him. "I'll take a coffee," he hesitated to say.

"Old man," Yuji grumbled with a small smirk on his face.

"Coffee in the afternoon is better than in the morning," Kyosuke reasoned.

Despite this, however, Naoto could only sigh. _'We need to do something about this…'_ Maybe it was just a slight of the foot, but he ended up accidentally tapping against Natsuki's leg. Natsuki was alerted out of her own thinking. She looked to Naoto, only to see Naoto look back at her with a confused expression. Regardless, though, with Natsuki's attention, he could try to do something. He mouthed 'Follow me' to Natsuki before she silently agreed. "Mind me getting out?" asked Naoto to Charmaine and Kyosuke. "I want to go to the bathroom before the drinks come."

"Me too," Natsuki informed Yuji.

* * *

><p><strong>Natsuki's POV<strong>

My attention is mostly on Fujimoto-kun's back as he and I headed towards the bathroom. It is an awkward situation. I'm happy that Kyosuke-kun came, but I didn't want things to turn out like this. We can't even communicate. Fujimoto-kun and Williams-san must feel out of place. I would. He turned to me once we were out of sight. I was waiting for reprimanding; maybe the two of them would leave early. For some kind of reason, I feel empty when I think of that.

"Really awkward indeed," comments Fujimoto-kun.

Nothing of that kind comes… And I'm left relatively surprised. Is Fujimoto-kun still busy trying to help me? My cheeks couldn't help but get hot. I've never had someone spend so much time on trying to help me outside of Kyosuke-kun and Onii-chan. So, it is a surprise to me.

"You feel guilty for this, don't you?" Fujimoto-kun asked.

I'm surprised. Not only for the sudden question… It was deeper than that. It was like I had heard something that I had hoped for someone to notice. It resonates within me and I could feel my heart's door begin to open. Ever since that confrontation on the school rooftop, I was wondering how much he was starting to figure me out. It was relatively scary. I didn't think that anyone would put in the effort to learn me. Yet, one person- no, Williams-san is probably doing the same thing- Two people are trying to make the effort to understand me.

"It's my fault," I explain. "Because I made the effort to change my relationship with Kyosuke-kun, I ended up breaking both of my relationships. How can I spend time with both of them when they can't get along with each other?"

"I think they do, honestly." My eyes drift to Fujimoto-kun's eyes. "If you told them that they should make up, then I think they would."

"Why?"

"Because they listen to you. They pay attention to you. They're arguing because they care about you." My eyes widen. Everything I was wondering about was beginning to make sense. Or maybe, I just want them to make sense so I can feel better about it. "Kurada-san, as well as your older brother, saw your sad state. If you looked at it from a distance, then your brother and Kurada-san must have both said something. That day when I saw you for the first time… Your older brother said something to you, didn't he? That's the reason why you didn't look up at all…"

What is with this guy? He must just be grasping at straws… That's what I thought before.

'_Things always change, Natsuki.'_

My brother's voice bounced off of the walls of my head.

'_All we can do is just work through it.'_

"I- I don't-," I manage to say. What am I supposed to do? I felt as if my older brother was just throwing away Kyosuke-kun as is. I didn't want that. At the exact same time, though, I felt hurt by his words. I felt as if he had completely shut down the present me. Even worse, it may have made me lose all chances with him. Being close to him; did being close to him before I even knew what a crush was enough to ruin my chances with him when I was older? Maybe I just didn't want to face the truth…

"I don't want things to change…" I mutter.

"But, sometimes you can't stop them," Fujimoto-kun replies. My eyes drift towards the ground. I was hoping for a better answer than that. "However, you can try to grab it again." My eyes snap back to Naoto. I'm confused, but I was told that I could do something to fix everything again.

"How can I do that?" I ask.

"Gather the courage," he explained. "You had that back then, where Kurada-san showed up. Remember that and make the leap of faith. Even if you fail, it's better than feeling guilt. Make a leap of faith…" Fujimoto-kun brushed my hair out of the way of my face to look at my eyes intensely. In that moment, I feel as if I had a door into his heart. "Become someone who won't be called an older sister; keep everything that you have while doing it. All you can do is just take a leap of faith. Take that first step."

What he's saying sounds like a stereotypical drama or anime speech. Yet, it touches my heart. My heart begins to beat faster, something that I only seemed to get when I was around Kyosuke-kun. And yet, I understand why. Fujimoto-kun began walking back towards his seat as I stood in place for a few moments. "I'm such a hopeless romantic," I mutter to myself, as I touch the part of my chest right over my heart. "I wonder if this is the whole 'Youth' thing that Otou-san keeps on talking about." I began to stroll back to the seats.

By the time I come back, my drink is already resting near where I was sitting and the woman who is our waitress was already back. "Oh, good timing." She noticed me. "Your group decided to split a pizza, if that was okay."

"Old tradition of ours," I inform with a small smile on my face. "Could we have ice cream for dessert?"

"Guessed that," sounds off Yuji with a smile on his face. "Strawberry, right?" I nod.

"Maiko-chan! We need some help with Table Six's orders!" cries out one of the people from behind the counters.

"Got it!" the waitress calls back. "Anyways, strawberry ice cream for the siblings, chocolate ice cream for tall and dark, chocolate chip cookie for Ms. Europe, and strawberry-vanilla swirl for Mr. Golden Boy." She begins to run off as Fujimoto-kun turns away, probably out of embarrassment.

"Looks like you made an impression," Williams-san teases.

"Yeah, right," Fujimoto-kun replies, the blush on his face getting more prevalent. I couldn't help but giggle at his response as he looked at me for a split second before looking away towards the window again. It makes me think, though… I want to laugh with Onii-san and Kyosuke-kun like this too…

* * *

><p>The pizza may have lasted less time on the table than it did in the oven, as only twenty minutes had passed and the five teenagers were waiting around for their ice cream.<p>

Natsuki fidgeted in her seat, Naoto's words and disposition still in her head. Even if she did deal with Naoto, however, she wouldn't feel complete until she addressed her main problem. Her fidgeting in her seat slowly began to stop and her eyes looked up to meet Naoto's face. He was sitting very compact, keeping his body still and all of his body packed in together. There was no body part that touched Charmaine's body, nor the window. It was very self-contained. However, he noticed Natsuki's eyes on him and he smiled at her. It was a little smile, but one that gave her the confidence that she needed.

"Everyone," Natsuki began, standing up from her seat, "I wanted to thank all of you for coming here today. I really had a good lunch with each one of you." The air around the table began to lift ever so little, Natsuki could tell. "I- I want us to be close friends." She looked over to Yuji. "Onii-chan…" Her gaze then directed to Kyosuke. "Kyosuke-kun… I want us to be the same as always. I want us to be the trio we've always been. I don't know if we can." Natsuki swallows her spit. "I really honestly do like Kyosuke-kun.

"But, I'd rather have the two of you with no strings attached. There is a lot of changing I'm going to do… And Kyosuke-kun, you may start seeing me as a woman someday. Other people are. But, right now, I'm fine with how we are." Naoto put on a small smile as Charmaine did the same and nudged Naoto, almost as if she was patting him on the back. "And I- Well, I-." Natsuki's mind began to go blank. _'I think that was it… But, it would ruin the speech if it ends like this.'_

The silence in the area rained prevalent as Natsuki began to slump back down into her seat, her face flushed. A few ticks to the clock later, Yuji chuckled to himself. "You've really grown up, Natsuki. It's almost scary," he commented. "I guess I don't need to protect you as much anymore." He looked over to Kyosuke. "I couldn't help but get angry at you, though. I've always considered you a brother to me… So, I couldn't help that I felt a little bit apprehensive."

"I know," Kyosuke replied. "It's your only strong quality, isn't it?"

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence," Yuji sighed. "But, still, though. I'm happy to hear that you have grown up a teeny bit."

"It is my birthday, y'know," Natsuki informed him matter-of-factly. "I have grown up."

"You know what I meant," Yuji retorted.

As Maiko approached the group, she announced, "Ice cream for five." The eyes of all five teenagers lightened up before they took their cups of ice cream.

Naoto looked in the direction of the window once again to notice that a couple of droplets of water had hit the window. _'Rain?'_ he wondered to himself before he dug into his ice cream.

* * *

><p>"Ah, it's really pouring out here," Yuji commented. The group was now in front of the Senda household. Naoto and Charmaine had luckily taken their own umbrellas. Well, only Naoto really did. Charmaine had managed to make a red one with skulls on it with her raiment. However, only Kyosuke had bothered out of the trio to actually bring an umbrella, so all three of them were huddled under one of their own.<p>

"Same as always," sighed Kyosuke, exasperated. "You two should make the effort to get more conscious of your surroundings."

Yuji let out a sigh of his own. "Well, sorry," he snapped back. He then looked to the house before he pointed at it. "If you guys want, you can stay here until the rain passes."

Charmaine looked to Naoto before Naoto shook his head. "We should get going." He put on a smile before he continued, "I have a little sibling of my own to take care of back home."

Yuji nodded in agreement. He could understand where Naoto was coming from. "Got it." He then looked to Naoto and Charmaine. "Sorry for getting you in our mess," he apologized bashfully.

"No problem," Charmaine explained. "I'm just happy to know that it all worked out at the end."

"England sounds like a very interesting place," Kyosuke mentioned, "as well as France."

"Well, thank you," Charmaine replied with an awkward smile on her face. She needed to make conversation somehow. After all of the tension dissipated, everyone was much more talkative. Even Naoto would have made better conversation if she hadn't made the effort to explain where she came from. _'Picture books… I seriously got saved by picture books,'_ she acknowledged.

"Anyways, we should get going," Naoto explained. He looked to Natsuki. "Happy birthday and sorry I couldn't get anything for you."

Natsuki shook her head. "Don't worry," she reassured him. "Your presence was enough." Naoto could only blush in response to what Natsuki said before he cleared his throat.

"Anyways, see you." Naoto and Charmaine began walking down the street, but what Yuji and Kyosuke noticed was not the pair walking away, but the girl that was left. Natsuki's gaze was unfocused, but she was definitely looking at the ever minimizing backs of Naoto and Charmaine. The trio proceeded into the house and as Natsuki proceeded to take off her soaked sandals, Kyosuke held out a raincoat to her.

Natsuki looked at Kyosuke with a confused expression on her face. But, Kyosuke stayed firm in his disposition. "Don't you have something else to tell someone?" he asked her before he nudged his head in the direction of the bleak world outside. "Honestly, I can't imagine you as anything other than a sister right now… But, wasn't there someone who you already found an interest in during all of this?" Natsuki's mind quickly drifted to Naoto and Charmaine and remembering how the last week had worked out, her face only managed to turn red, like an apple.

"_All you can do is just take a leap of faith. Take that first step."_

Naoto's advice to Natsuki echoed in her head as she proceeded to take the rain jacket. "I'll be back soon," she told the two males.

* * *

><p>The rain had begun to pour down and Naoto and Charmaine were strolling to the house, each under their own umbrella. "Do you think you fixed up Senda-chan's gap?" Charmaine asked, wanting to break the silence. In the back of her head, as well as Naoto's, the conquest was still on their mind. Even though they would definitely not call the day's endeavor a failure, they were still left without much of a chance at getting to Natsuki's heart. It really made Naoto wonder if he had only done the right thing because it made him feel better about it. He couldn't figure out Natsuki's gap, so he decided to fix at least something nearby, hoping that it was the gap.<p>

"I really think that I did," he affirmed, although his tone was less than encouraging. "We still have some time so-."

"Fujimoto-kun! Williams-san!" cried out a female voice. Naoto stopped for a moment, hearing the splashing footsteps that approached the two of them. He and Charmaine looked back to see Natsuki, laboring to continue running. Her labored run slowed down to a trudge as she approached them. "I wanted to thank the two of you for helping me." She struggled to breathe as she looked up to Naoto. Naoto tilted his umbrella forward, covering at least parts of Natsuki's body, as Natsuki continued looking up at Naoto in awe.

"It's fine," Charmaine giggled. She then turned on her heel and began to walk away. "I'll be heading home first. I'll see you at home, Naoto-kun."

As Natsuki continued to stare up at Naoto, her breathing beginning to slow to its regular rhythm, Naoto had to wonder if he should make the first move or not.

The scene was tranquil; the only real sound that was prevalent was the raindrops hitting against the ground. But, to Natsuki, the sound of the raindrops meant nothing. The beating of her heart sounded stronger than it. Even though the breathing had calmed down, the heart still beat as if it was to leap out of her chest and say the words that she wanted to say before she even had the chance to do so. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice caught in her throat, creating a small whimper instead. Her face flushed, and all of a sudden, the cold air got even colder to her. Her legs even shook, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the cold. "You know?" she began, her eyes casted down towards the ground. "I really wanted that."

"Hm?" Naoto raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what Natsuki was saying.

"I wanted everything to go back to the way it was," Natsuki explained. "Now that I think of it, I wanted it all this time… But, I couldn't muster up any kind of courage to do it. I always believed that I was stuck on a straight course, heading towards whatever it was. When I saw Kyosuke-kun and Onii-chan fight, I couldn't help but think that I was right the first time." She then put on a bright smile. "However, looking back at it, I really wanted to change. I wanted to step out and do something. But, I didn't have the courage and when I failed and everything unraveled, I felt guilty for having them in the first place."

"Well, you know-," Naoto began.

"Please, let me talk," Natsuki interjected. "If you don't let me finish this, then I don't know if I'll have the courage later on to do so." Naoto stopped speaking on the spot and after a few moments pass, Natsuki smiles wider. "I really didn't think I wanted you and Williams-san… I wanted my older brother and my childhood friend to make up. I was afraid to step out, though, and voice it. Even worse, I grew afraid of change itself…

"But, if I didn't change, then I wouldn't have met Williams-san… I wouldn't have met you." Natsuki's cheeks flushed, as well as Naoto's. Even though Naoto was preparing for something similar, he was still completely bewildered as to what to do. Natsuki hugged the taller Naoto, possibly as a way to hide that she was blushing, before she gazed up at him. "I will change. And I won't be afraid of it. But, my courage supply is running low for today. So, let me just use the remaining confidence I have left to say something…"

Natsuki began to stand on her tip-toes, and Naoto, wanting to help her, lowers his head a little bit. Their foreheads met and Natsuki stared into Naoto's eyes with a wide smile on her face. "Naoto-kun," Natsuki began. Naoto's eyes widened and his cheeks turned rosy. It was a distinct difference from when Charmaine always said it. It was laced with a different emotion. It wasn't familiarity; it sounded like something similar to longing. "I want you."

Natsuki placed her lips on top of Naoto's, closing her eyes. Her lips tasted like strawberry ice cream, no surprise. Naoto couldn't help but feel a little light-headed. Even after Tomomi, he was still not used to it all.

Meanwhile, above the pair was Charmaine, tapping the jar that she was holding as she waited for the spirit to come out. From the clear umbrella that Naoto was carrying, she could see a flash of light emit before a ghastly spirit emitted out from it. _'Number two,'_ she counted to herself as she began chasing the spirit.

* * *

><p>The end of the school day was the same as usual, with people hustling to go home. Naoto, on the other hand, though, had no club today- soccer team was cancelled because of how bad the field was. He also had no immediate calls from his mother. His head was propped up by a loose fist made by his right hand, nestled against his right cheekbone. Even with all of the chatter swarming around the room, his eyes remained focused on the visions outside of his window. The rain from the day prior had made the ground damp and darker on sight and the leaves of the lone tree still had little droplets of water resting on them. Some of the wind had even blown some of the leaves off of the tree and scattered them all over the damp ground.<p>

Nevertheless, Naoto still found some interest in the world beyond the window- at least more interest than that of the one he was actually part of in the moment. It was a tranquil day and one that he didn't need to worry about getting his head cleaved off. He was happy for at least that. He looked in the direction of Natsuki's desk, only to see that she had already left. He was apparently so focused that he couldn't even notice the amethyst eyes staring at him.

"_Gather the courage."_

Charmaine was surprised to know that Naoto had said those words to Natsuki. Yet, at the exact same time, she could only giggle at the irony of it. When she met Naoto, he came off of an aloof person who made the personal effort to avoid people. However, as she noticed with Tomomi and the basketball team, as well as Natsuki, was that maybe his personality was not that self-destructive. Maybe, back when she met Naoto, he was not isolating himself just to avoid people… Maybe he had accepted at that point in time that he had already given into the fact that he would never amount out to anything more than he already had. That was irony of it. Hell had decided to send her to a person who could have had a gap in his heart if he was a girl. Yet, his personality allowed him to make those connections with the girls and his emotions allowed him to come up with those answers when he needed to.

Maybe, one day, someone would need to say those words to Naoto.

"What are you looking at?" Naoto asked, snapping Charmaine out of her thinking. Her attention was brought to the forefront to see the golden irises of her human buddy looking at her. His bag was already packed and he had already risen to his feet.

"Nothing in particular," Charmaine replied with a small smirk on her face.

Someday, someone would need to say those words to Naoto… But, unlike Natsuki, he wasn't ready to hear them yet.

* * *

><p>So, that is Natsuki's storyline arc. If you're wondering the reason why Natsuki didn't get an 'ending' appearance, it's going to be next chapter. So, delving into the development of Natsu-chan!<p>

**Natsuki** was actually, admittedly, not supposed to be part of the story. Even more so, the way she worked out was not what I originally thought up for her. I thought up of her after finishing Tomomi and revisiting the girls that I was planning on writing and I realized that the girl I had thought up of was similar to Mio. I didn't like that; I promised myself that I would change it up a little bit, so I actually roamed around for a little bit and found inspiration for her ranging from all over the place. Natsuki was supposed to be the overshadowed younger sibling; it's been done enough in anime, I think, to get an idea of it. The story was primarily going to be about her increased distaste of the term 'little sister' because of her older brother and Kyosuke's rejection.

Then, a person who was really close to me suffered a loss in her family in between Chapters two and three. Then, I rearranged the story to being something a little bit more substantial, I thought, as being the concept of changing and how destructive and reconstructive it can be. It's touched in anime very often; you may see situations between Kyosuke and Natsuki even play out in your own classrooms to much worse effect. In exchange, Yuji went from being one-shot character to being an important side character, so maybe I'm thinking about putting him in some other chapters as well.

But, anyways, I think that's the reason why I was able to write better. Sadly enough, Chapters two through four turned out to have more work done on them than Chapter one and as a result, came out progressively later but I'm satisfied with the product.

So, let me see… The schedule for next week will be that I will release one full chapter at the beginning of the week and then Tomomi's omake (which will be about 2,000 to 3,000 words) a few days after. As you're probably noticing, I'm trying to toy around with my writing style (another reason why the release dates for all these chapters never work out). So, please I will accept any kind of critiques you have, just as long as they're constructive.

Oh, and let me see about the anime references in this chapter... Uh, PenguinMarch is a reference to Mawaru Penguindrum. It's a series airing right now and the penguins in it remind me of Prinnies from Disgaea (yes, they get that badly abused at times for comedic effect). Wagmaria is a letter change of Wagnaria. First season is coming in America under that name; the Japanese name is Working! and it'll be airing in Japan in a few weeks.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good week! I'll be back for Chapter 5 next week!


End file.
